Can Harmanpreet Singh and Co flick the switch in Paris?

The ball fired from Harmanpreet Singh’s stick sounded the board with a loud thud that reverberated around Antwerp’s KHC Dragons Stadium on Sunday. Once again, the talismanic drag-flicker had come to India’s rescue with a 12th international hat-trick, guiding his team to a 5-4 win over Rio 2016 champions Argentina in the Pro League.

The 28-year-old has made it a habit. India in trouble, Harmanpreet to the rescue. India need goals, Harmanpreet converts from a penalty corner (PC). Penalty shootout, a cool-headed Harmanpreet will slide the ball past the goalkeeper to help India win.

The defender, who hails from Jandiala Guru in Punjab, played a critical role at the Tokyo Olympics. With Rupinder Pal Singh, the two experienced drag-flickers scored a total of 10 goals, with both converting in the famous 5-4 win over Germany that earned India an Olympic medal after 41 years.

But Rupinder’s retirement in 2021 has left a huge void and Harmanpreet has been forced to go solo. None of his successors have been able to fill the large shoes leading to a massive difference in the quality of drag-flicks between Harmanpreet and the second battery.

It is normal for most top teams to have at least two, if not more, world-class drag-flickers. Australia have Jeremy Hayward, Blake Govers and Rintala Joel. Olympic champions Belgium possesses the world’s best PC specialist Alexander Hendrickx, Loick Luypert and Tom Boon. Great Britain have Nicholas Bandurak and Sam Ward.

India, however, are struggling on that front. Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay and Araijeet Singh Hundal who have all made the list of 28 core probables of which only 16 will head to Paris in July. The team management also tried Varun Kumar, Neelam Sanjeep Xess and Dipsan Tirkey in the last three years but they haven't made the cut.

“There is a gap (between Harmanpreet and others). The second and third drag-flickers should contribute more towards execution which will always keep the goalkeeper confused,” says former India drag-flicker VR Raghunath, who has been hired by Hockey India (HI) to cultivate PC specialists at the grassroot level. “Harman will always contribute. If the second and third flickers can contribute 10-15% more (goals), we can cover the gap.”

Amit is all but assured of a Paris spot but his role is primarily that of a defender and first rusher. Also, he is not a regular PC taker and scores only once in almost 10 games. That leaves India with Jugraj, Sanjay and Araijeet – all of whom made their debut in the last couple of years.

Jugraj will likely be the second flicker in Paris as Sanjay (2 goals in 31 matches) just hasn’t been able to bring his high conversion rate at the junior level into seniors. Araijeet, on the other hand, debuted only earlier this year and Craig Fulton is known to prefer experience.

“Jugraj is doing a good job. He is mentally and physically strong and has good power. It is true that rushers are smart and fearless but drag-flickers have also learnt to be cunning. Every rusher has a weakness. It is for the flickers to analyse videos and take advantage of that. These days everyone has power, it is more of a psychological game,” added Raghunath, who retired in 2017.

Touted as India’s strength ahead of the home World Cup, Harmanpreet proved to be the team’s weakness in Odisha last year. Knowing the hosts had a weak second battery, opposition teams choked Harmanpreet during the quadrennial event which dried up goals for India. The result was India finished joint ninth – the worst finish by hosts at a World Cup.

Rushers and goalkeepers will try to do an encore against Harmanpreet in Paris, especially after the India skipper emerged as the top scorer in the last two editions of the Pro League.

“The more experience the other flickers get, the more chances they get, the better. With more exposure and experience, results will improve,” says Rupinder, who is also involved in HI’s grassroot development of drag-flickers. “The second flicker will be needed at Olympics because everyone will target Harman. What happened at the World Cup shouldn’t happen again.”

Even though PC conversion rates have dried up over the years thanks to smarter and fearless first rushers, better equipment and standardisation of the hockey stick, the drag-flick still remains the most important tool if a team wants to win matches and tournaments. Take Gonzalo Peillat for example who single-handedly took Argentina to gold in Rio 2016.

India have tried many PC specialists during national camps, spent extra hours on set-pieces and also brought in foreign experts to help.

"We are improving. Jugraj has solid power and is very focussed. I am also giving more attention to flicking. The main target is to beat the first rusher. Some come straight, some fast. We try and go around him to sling it in hard. Then comes accuracy, meaning hitting in the correct angle, whether to hit left, right or grounded. The plan has to be executed properly,” says Amit, who has 180 international caps.

The team has less than two months to fine tune the drag-flick department before heading to Paris. While the recent tour of Australia proved to be a disaster as India lost 0-5, perhaps the only positive was the PC department with both Harmanpreet and Jugraj coming to the party in Perth. Craig Fulton will hope it remains the same way in Paris.