India will play attacking hockey in Azlan Shah, says coach

Bhopal (PTI): Asserting that India will play an attacking game in the Azlan Shah Hockey Cup starting in Malaysia next month, Men’s Hockey team coach in-charge Harendra Singh today said that the team will win the tournament, in which it ended as runners-up last year.

“We are going to lift the Azlan Shah Hockey Cup,” Singh told PTI here.

The team will play an attacking game for which India is known world over. I don’t believe in playing a defensive game as it does not lead to victory, said Singh, who is putting up at the Central regional centre of the Sports Authority of India where the squad for the tourney will be picked.

He said that the team, which ranks ninth among hockey playing countries, aimed to finish among the top-six ranking nations in the sport by the end of the year.

The players’ morale is high after the team’s stunning performance in New Zealand, where India won the hockey Test series 2-0, he said.

Five teams – New Zealand, Pakistan, Egypt, Malaysia and India – will participate in the Azlan Shah Hockey Cup that commences from April 5.

Asked whether Spain’s Jose Brasa will take charge as the Chief Coach of the Indian hockey team in mid-April, Singh said that the Ad-hoc committee, that currently manages the affairs of Indian hockey, might know the answer.
Courtesy: PTI