Hockey: India U-23 play out 1-1 draw vs Belgium
Antwerp (Belgium), July 18 : India's U-23 men's team were held to a 1-1 draw by Belgium in their third round robin match of the Five Nations Tournament here.
India had a mixed bag of results in their first two matches of the tournament as they beat Ireland 5-0 in their first match, but lost 1-3 to Great Britain in the second match.
However, a strong performance against the hosts was needed and the Indian forwards did not disappoint as they produced an attacking display in the first two quarters on Tuesday.
The junior team were rewarded for their constant pressure on Belgium when striker Mohammad Umar found space in the striking circle and put the ball into the back of the net at the stroke of half-time.
The third quarter, however, saw the hosts produce a quick reply to India taking the lead, as Syril Frying cancelled out the lead in the 34th minute to level the scores.
Both the teams had their chances in the final quarter of the match, but neither could capitalise the chances and the match ended in a draw, which means that India will need to win their last round robin match against the Netherlands on Friday to have a chance of qualifying for the Final match of the U-23 Five Nations Tournament.
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Talks about split coaching surprising, important for people to stay in their domain: Gambhir
Visakhapatnam (PTI): India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Saturday came down heavily on theories doing the rounds on social media about split coaching, terming them "surprising" and asked those opinion-makers to stay "in their domain."
After India’s recent 0-2 Test series defeat against South Africa, some influential cricketing names, including an IPL team owner, asked the BCCI to consider appointing separate coaches for red-ball and white ball formats.
"Look, there were a lot of talks because the results didn't go in our favour (in Test series). But the most surprising thing is that not once did any media or journalist wrote that our first Test match (in Kolkata) was played without the captain (Shubman Gill), who didn't bat in both innings (because of a neck injury)," Gambhir said during the post-match press meet after India clinched the ODI series against SA 2-1.
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Gambhir said such opinion makers should refrain from making remarks that have no direct connection with on-field cricketing matters.
“Some people also said things that have nothing to do with cricket. An IPL team owner (Parth Jindal of Delhi Capitals on X) also wrote about split coaching.
“So this is surprising. It's very important for people to stay in their domain. Because if we don't go into someone's domain, then they also don't have the right to come into our domain,” Gambhir added.
Gambhir had also stated his achievements as the red-ball coach in the post-match press conference at Guwahati in what looked like a self-defence mechanism after a series defeat at home.
“I don't give excuses in press conferences. It doesn't mean that you don't show the facts in front of the world or the country. When you go through a transition and when you lose your captain, who is also your main batter in red-ball cricket against such a team (SA).
"Then obviously the results are difficult because you don't have that much experience in red ball cricket. And the surprising thing is that no one even talked about it. All the discussions about wickets, I don't know what all things were said," he noted.
