The Indian hockey team returns to the Olympics after an eight-year hiatus. The London Games provides the eight-time gold medalists an opportunity to make up for the failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the first time it did not take the field at the quadrennial extravaganza.

London is also where India won the fourth of its eight Olympic gold medals way back in 1948. However, the going is surely going to be tough for the country that won its last Olympic gold in 1980, at Moscow, and is no longer a force to reckon with in the sport.

For India to break their 32-year medal jinx at London much will depend on how some key members of the team perform. The side is young and fit but lacks experience. Ignace Tirkey and Sandeep Singh are the only players who have played in an Olympics. The rest of the squad will be making their debut.

While skipper Bharat Chetri will man the goal, in defence, there is Sandeep and V R Ragunath. Both are fine exponents of the drag-flick, which is vital for goals from penalty-corners, but they are susceptible in tackling. The forward line will be spearheaded by Shivendra Singh, Tushar Khandekar and SV Sunil, while playmaker and vice-captain Sardara Singh, the only Indian in the FIH's World XI for the last two years, holds the key in midfield. Much will depend on how he dictates the trend of play.

The team hasn't fared too well in warm-up matches in the run-up to the Games and to finish among the top teams, India, which is drawn in Group B along with reigning Olympic champions Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Korea and Belgium, will have to conjure up something out of the ordinary. For that to happen much will depend on how the aforementioned players perform. They hold the key to India's progress at the Games.

Sandeep Singh: (defender/drag-flicker) The name should be survivor Singh rather than Sandeep Singh. Life has come a full circle for the drag-flick ace after he sustained a freak injury in 2006 in a train, when an RPF officer's pistol accidentally went off and he was shot in his foot. He was on his way to Delhi to join the team for the World Cup in Germany.

Again, in 2011, it looked as if it would be curtains for Sandeep and Sardar Singh as they rubbed the federation on the wrong side. They were banned for two years but timely sense prevailed after they apologised. India's former skipper is ranked among the world's best drag-flickers. Before going into the Olympic qualifiers in New Delhi, he predicted that he would score at least 12 goals. He ended up scoring 16!Going into the Olympics, Sandeep had said he has no numbers in mind, but after playing a few matches on the tour of Europe perhaps he will make a prediction.

Image: Sandeep Singh
Photographs: Laxmi Negi