Cold reception for Indians in Madrid

If Dhanraj Pillay’s omission was a setback to the Indian hockey team before they left for the Olympics qualifier, the extreme cold conditions here have added to their woes on their arrival in Madrid. Since landing here on February 25, the Indians are finding it tough to train with the temperatures ranging around the zero-degree mark.

With the players finding it tough to hold hockey sticks in cold and windy conditions, there were worrying signs for the team management. The German-based doctor of the Indian team Joginder Singh said, ‘‘There will be certainly a 15 per cent drop in the performance of the team because of the conditions.’’ While team coach Rajinder Singh said that ‘‘warm ups will be very important and the players have to take all precautions to avoid injuries.’’

There was more bad news for the Indians since according to the locals there is no chance of the mercury will shooting in the coming days.

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The unseasonal drop in temperature, it was learnt, was due to heavy snowfall in Germany. And for a team which was training in the pleasant 15 degrees at New Delhi just a week back, the cold reception at Madrid has come as a bolt from the blue.

But for India’s opponent in this tournament the conditions are favourable. The Belgians, whom the Indian’s meet in their opening match on Tuesday, are used to these conditions and that would mean the Indians will be on the backfoot straightaway.

The lone bright spot for the Indian has been their 3-3 draw to Spain in friendly game yesterday.