Indian hockey, which has been in a state of stagnation for a while, has made initial efforts to move forward. The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup represented India’s first serious look into the future and it’s heartening to see Joaquim Carvalho’s young side seizing the opportunity in right earnest.
While the primary aim was to provide exposure to youngsters in the competition, the goal was to finish on the podium, like last time.
Leading teams like champions Australia and Argentina decided to rest several key players which, according to some critics, took much sheen off the tournament. Pro-youth policy is the mantra of modern sports. But the cut and thrust of international competition is such that it always demands highest level of performance from every player. An opposition is always an opposition and beating a higher-ranked team instils a sense of self-belief in yourself — so necessary when you are in a transition.
By finishing third in the Azlan Shah Cup, the youngsters have given us a glimpse of hope. It’s good to see them overcome challenges of South Africa and China. The victory over China was particularly special as it avenged our Doha Asian Games defeat. We gave away too many penalty corners for comfort but still managed to gain a number of positives from the match.
Throughout the tournament, Sardara Singh and Bharat Chikara showed a lot of promise. This was their first taste of international competition and they delivered the goods, giving us the selectors a few options in future. The team played as a unit, a key factor for our success in the meet.
However, we must not take our eyes off the ground reality. Carvalho has injected an attacking instinct in the team but the perennial problem in converting penalty corners still remains. We could have returned with a much bigger accolade but for our lack of finishing. Our defence also looked suspect.
Raghunath was a rookie in the position and needs time to match to the likes of Jugraj Singh and Sandeep Singh. Because of our failures upfront, the scoreline did not reflect India’s total dominance in some of the matches.
Our next assignment is the Champions Challenge Cup in Belgium, the winners of which will confirm a berth in the Champions Trophy. Dilip Tirkey and Gagan Ajit Singh — who gave the Azlan Shah Cup a miss due to their Dutch league commitments — are back in the camp for the June 23-July 1 meet.
While Dilip will bolster our defence, it remains to be seen how Gagan Ajit takes up the responsibility. In fact, a few other old players have joined the camp as well. Probably we need a mixture of youth and experience for our immediate challenges, but I still believe it’s the young brigade who will bring laurels.
Sandeep has returned to the camp after his unfortunate injury. I am eagerly waiting to see how he performs in future. A fully-fit Sandeep is always an asset for any team. If the dynamic player keeps up his promise, he can be our answer to a number of problems plaguing the game now, especially penalty corner blues. The quicker he recovers and finds form, the better it is for the Indian hockey.
