Fans: A strength & a weakness for India at home

EVER been to a ticketed hockey match in the country? The small (in comparison to cricket arenas) but atmospheric grounds can work up quite the din, especially when India have the ball and are breaking forward in numbers.

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At first, the build up of noise is slow. The realisation that India are on the attack and may have a shooting opportunity takes a few seconds to permeate through the crowd, be it in Bhubaneswar or Rajgir or Rourkela or Chennai or New Delhi (the five venues the national team has played international games in over the last few years).