Paris: Failing to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games was a watershed moment for the India men’s hockey team. It was a new low for the eight-time Olympic gold medallists since their 1975 World Cup triumph. That was the last major title India had won, notwithstanding their gold medal at boycott-marred 1980 Olympics at Moscow. A heavy injection of funds to reverse fortunes saw India make a comeback in the line-up at the London Olympics in 2012. It turned out to be a disaster. India finished at the bottom the 12-team competition and the approach of the players was shocking.

Michael Nobbs, the chief coach and a former Australia player, was left dejected by players showing they were satisfied at merely being Olympians. “I am struggling to figure out how any player could shy away from hard tackles in combative encounters. It does not get any bigger than the Olympics and some of the players are even casual in executing shots that they have practised for years,” Nobbs said as the team lurched from one disastrous outing to another.

“As an Australian, I find this lack of killer instinct disheartening. When players step on to the pitch wearing the Australian colours, they are willing to be taken off only on stretchers. That’s the commitment I was expecting from a side representing the hopes of millions.”

Proof of what Nobbs said came in seasoned defender Matt Dawson having part of his finger amputated to stay in contention for Paris. A silver medallist in Tokyo, Dawson was eager to play in his third Olympics but that looked difficult when he injured his ring finger in training. Dawson amputated the injured top part of the digit so that it would heal faster and in 10 days, he was available for selection. It is against such determination that India will find itself as it seeks to repeat its medal-winning show of the last Olympics in Tokyo.

International hockey is no longer an exhibition of soft skills in which India once excelled. Against top-ranked teams what matters is the amount of physical risk players are willing to take.

Hockey has become so fast and competitive that a small margin separates the crack outfits from others in terms of quality. With little to separate them in calibre, these teams go heavy on analysis. Which means that only an element of surprise can lift a team’s fortunes. The results achieved, or not achieved, in the recent FIH Pro League will have no bearing on the Olympic Games.

In India’s case that could help cast aside recent indifferent performances provided the team executes plans or moves coach Craig Fulton introduces for the Games. We will know soon enough.

For six years, between his debut in 2016 and the Tokyo Olympic bronze in 2022, Harmanpreet’s drag flicks produced outstanding results. But at the 2023 World Cup, opponents had a strategy to neutralise the risk posed by his penalty-corner shots. That hampered India’s results.

With penalty corners deciding majority of games, the India captain is aware that his team’s success will depend a great deal on the new elements he manages to introduce in his shots. As rival analysts study videos of penalty corner execution, variations become key in fetching goals from them.

At the other end of the pitch, what becomes equally significant is how well a team deals with the rival flickers. This is where the vast experience of P R Sreejesh will be handy in what will be his last international competition. Maintaining the structure of defence during open play is as vital as skills of those standing on either side of the goalkeeper during penalty corners.

The bronze medal at Tokyo can be a burden for India. They have struggled to reproduce the sterling show, and even ended up among the also-rans at last year’s World Cup on home turf.

But finishing on the podium in the last Olympics can also serve as motivation. The Olympic preliminary pool draw allows India to find their feet against lower-ranked opponents New Zealand and Ireland – separated by a tie versus Argentina – before they take on the big guns. At the 2016 Olympics, India’s good show against Germany and Argentina almost set up a favourable quarter-final line-up, until they faltered against lowly-rated Canada and thus played against Belgium in the last eight.

A good show against Argentina could place India comfortably in the quarter-final draw by the time they come up against defending champions Belgium and Tokyo silver medallists Australia. Just to refresh the memory, India were the only team that defeated 2016 gold medallists Argentina in Rio.

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