DT
PT
Subscribe To Print Edition About The Tribune Code Of Ethics Download App Advertise with us Classifieds
search-icon-img
search-icon-img
Advertisement

India taking aerial route to success

Indervir Grewal Chandigarh, May 17 When Harmanpreet Singh launches one of his soaring aerial passes to the other end of the field and the collective gaze follows the flight of the ball while losing track of the field below, for...
  • fb
  • twitter
  • whatsapp
  • whatsapp
Advertisement

Indervir Grewal

Chandigarh, May 17

Advertisement

When Harmanpreet Singh launches one of his soaring aerial passes to the other end of the field and the collective gaze follows the flight of the ball while losing track of the field below, for those few seconds, gasps of excitement and anticipation fill the air — the Indian team’s fans know that if the pass reaches its target, usually an unmarked player behind the opposition defence, a goal-scoring opportunity is imminent.

The transformation of the aerial pass, known colloquially as the scoop, from a largely innocuous skill into a major attacking weapon underlines the evolution of the sport, especially over the last decade.

Advertisement

“When I played, it was mostly used by the central midfielders and inside-forwards to lob the ball into empty spaces along the flanks for either the wingers or the centre-forward,” said Merwyn Fernandez, who played in three Olympics in the 1980s.

“Those were primarily small scoops flicked on the run, nothing too long. Surely not as long or as accurate as the passes these days. The precision of the passes, the deftness in receiving and the understanding between the players, it is marvellous,” added the Olympics gold medallist.

Next level

India have taken this tactic to a new level — they have a high success rate, with most of their aerial passes into the attacking third earning them at least penalty corners, bringing the likes of Harmanpreet into play.

From only the defenders taking the aerial route, now even the midfielders and forwards are getting adept at it. “Indians have always been good at it, but we do work a lot on accuracy, receiving and understanding in training,” said Jarmanpreet Singh, who often finds himself at the end of a diagonal high-ball from Harmanpreet.

“It is a necessary element of the game these days, helps in countering the zonal system. Defences can get really packed and it is difficult to advance through the middle, so we go along the flanks or take the aerial route. Also, there is a lot of grey area around the high-ball rule so we try to take advantage of it,” he added.

Despite the changing coaches and tactics, India’s reliance on the aerial pass has been a constant. “The new coach encourages us to work on it and use it in match situations, but he also warns against its overuse and tells us to maintain a balance,” Jarmanpreet said.

The prime example of India going overboard was in their quarterfinal loss against Netherlands in the 2018 World Cup when, unable to break the Dutch press, the players used aerial balls to eliminate just one Dutch opponent at times, reducing an innovative idea to lazy hockey.

The aerial-ball tactic is prominently used by teams — like India, Spain and Argentina — that prefer a directness in attack, using long passes and counterattacks. For its surprise element, though, top teams like Australia, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, who like to control possession, have also adopted the tactic. But these teams still primarily rely on their dynamic off-the-ball running and quick passing to break defences.

In their recent Test series against Australia, India used the overhead ball to great effect. But their inability to build intricate attacks against a top-level defence also highlighted their technical and tactical shortcomings. In their upcoming Pro League matches, coach Craig Fulton would be eager to test India’s attacking prowess against the tough defences of Belgium, Argentina, Germany and Great Britain.

Evolution of ‘scoop’ to attacking weapon

Throughout most of the game’s history, the ‘scoop’ has been more of a showboating skill in training. It was primarily utilised by teams to get the ball out of their defence when put under the squeeze, especially to protect a lead in the dying minutes.

Netherlands was among the first teams to apply it in attack from the back in the late 1970s. They used the aerial route to cross the barrier formed by the Indian forwardline for stopping the diagonal passes. Over time, there have been some ingenious players — Australian great Mark Knowles being a prime example — who tried out adventurous passes to deep-lying forwards.

But the evolution of the overhead pass into a deceptively effective weapon in every team’s armoury and a big headache for defences came about in the last 10-15 years. It was necessitated by the almost revolutionary use of zonal defending by Belgium and Argentina in the middle of the last decade and the subsequent shift to the system by almost all the major teams. The playing styles have further evolved into an ever-shifting blend of zonal and player-marking defences.

But in its simplified form, the zonal system left pockets of space between the various lines of defence. These pockets were almost impossible to reach with ground passing, so teams, with Belgium again being among the pioneers, started taking the overhead route.

As the players honed the skill, its scope got broader. Teams use the overhead ball to instantly change flanks without going through the usual multi-pass route or to find an unmarked player on the other side of a crowded semicircle.

Subjective rule leading to frustration

The rule is governed by the perception of danger, which makes it highly subjective. It says that at the time of the release of the aerial pass, the intended receiver should be five yards away from the nearest defender, otherwise it is considered a foul against the attacking team. However, if the defender closes in on the attacker while the ball is in midair, then it is a defensive infringement. But the distance is difficult to gauge with the naked eye, making it a judgement call from the umpire, who has to be aware of the time of release while keeping an eye on the receiving player. The modification to the rule that the defender can intercept the pass but has to be in control of the ball adds more ambiguity. No wonder that these are the most hotly contested decisions in the game.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
tlbr_img1 Home tlbr_img2 Opinion tlbr_img3 Classifieds tlbr_img4 Videos tlbr_img5 E-Paper