Sportskeeda checked with Siegfried Aikman, Jude Felix, and Ashish Ballal as to what they made of India’s show at Bhubaneswar, vis-a-vis their closest rivals, in order to shed some light on what has been a string of inconsistent performances by the top-ranked teams.

The Netherlands flattered only to deceive, as a 7-0 thrashing of Malaysia was followed by a 1-4 defeat to Germany, while the Germans themselves began with a hard-fought 1-0 win against Pakistan.

The Australians began with a cagey 2-1 win against the Irish and were not at their imperious best against old foes England either - at least, not until a packed final quarter when they displayed signs of their old brilliance, and destroyed Danny Kerry’s side with three spectacular goals, all of which were scored from open play.

With an 11-0 win over the Chinese, the Aussies are getting back into prime form and Colin Batch’s Kookaburras are beginning to look like the World Champions of old.

Argentina managed to pull off a close 4-3 win again Spain before asserting themselves with a 3-0 victory over New Zealand, but a loss to France may not have been the best result for the Los Leones even after being assured of a quarterfinal place.

FIH master coach Siegfried Aikman who watched both of Argentina’s opening matches shed some light on the strategy which the South Americans have adopted of late.

So, how have the hosts done performed thus far, amalgamating their traditional free-flowing game with the concept of total hockey?

A 5-0 win against South Africa was just the perfect start that Harendra’s boys would have wanted, but a less-than-satisfactory first half against Belgium has some experts worried.

When asked specifically if India has been the most impressive side thus far, the former India captain stated that he was not particularly pleased with India’s game in the first half against the Red Lions.

Former India goalkeeper Ashish Ballal felt the Indians deserved a win against Belgium last Sunday but were unfortunate to concede a late equalizer.

The Asian Games gold-medalist of 1998, however, emphasized that while the Indians may have impressed, there are other teams at Bhubaneswar who have been just as impressive.

Following Holland’s loss to Germany, Aikman, who coached the Japanese side to victory at the Asian Games feels that the Indians have been the most impressive team at the World Cup so far.

The biggest challenge for India, in recent times, has been their inability to withstand big-match pressure and whether the mammoth crowds in Bhubaneswar inspire the Indians to go all the way, or cause them to choke remains to be seen, as Aikman pointed out succinctly before the tournament began.

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