I am an emotionally drained man at the moment. The defeat against Pakistan, which dashed our last chance of qualifying for the Champions Trophy, has left me devastated.
As I sit down to write my column, I just cannot explain why we had to struggle right through in this manner. A hundred excuses can be offered for our lacklustre performance. At the end of the day, I must say we were just not good enough.
Before the start of the match I told the boys that if we can beat Pakistan and qualify for the Champions Trophy, then we would still go back with some dignity.
They were all geared up and looking forward to regain some of our wounded pride.
Alas, that was not to be. After having played well to contain Pakistan in the first half, we played badly in the second session and conceded unnecessary goals.
If not for some intelligent play by Adrian and Dilip again, we perhaps would have suffered defeat by a heavier margin.
While our defence played badly throughout the Olympics, questions can also be asked about what exactly happened to our so-called renowned forward line?
We failed miserably in scoring goals and convert the chances that came our way. Hockey is all about converting half chances and to be at the right place at the right time.
