Team India’s journey so far at the Asian Champions Trophy has not been exceptional. Besides two big wins over China (7-2) and Malaysia (5-0), they played out a 1-1 draw against Japan before getting past Korea 3-2. The forward line has been wasteful, the defence doubtful and the penalty corner conversions unimpressive. 

However, former India defender and drag flicker V Raghunath, who is also a member of the Hockey India national selection committee, believes it’s all part of a plan, where the Asian powerhouse [World No. 4 India are the highest ranked Asian team] are not playing to their full potential deliberately.