Md Umar: We have to play good hockey, do simple things

Mercurial Indian forward Mohd. Umar sees bright spots in his hugely raw team mates tomorrow when Indian team takes on arch rivals Pakistan in the fourth Beximco Asia Sub-Junior Asia Cup at the Moulana Bashini stadium in Dhaka.

“Most of our boys are new to international competition, and are making debut here. However, they improved a lot in the last two matches”.

“I feel we need to play good hockey, then the result will be good. We will try to do simple things well like rotation, getting penalty corners and converting and then don’t complicate things”, said the youngster with clarity”.

He considers losing to Bangladesh in the opener is an eye-opener for the young team, but sees positives here.

“The mere fact that we had a tough match against the hosts in our opener here, has given us a good measure of competition. This is good for us. On the other hand, Pakistan so far had easy matches, and will be pressed hard into a tough match tomorrow against us. Therefore, I see we have advantage tomorrow”.

Umar and Captain Nilam Sanjeeb are the only two players in the Indian team who had some experience of playing big matches that too against Pakistan.

Rest of the Indian team, barring Hardik Singh, who played last SAF Games, play their first international tournament.

Umar is the Junior Asia Cup gold medal winner, at the cost Pakistan last year in Kuantan and then Silver in the South Asian Federation Games. India lost the final to Pakistan in the Guwahati event.

“Those two Pakistan teams were strong, and our games were equally matching. The experience is with me and with Nilam”

. “The new boys will keep up the improving trend”, the youngster from Bhopal, which has produced numerous players for Indian hockey, said.

Umar plays upfront, and is often target of defenders. He was twice hit hard and seen writhing on pain often.

“Tough tackles and injuries are part of the games, it hardly matters”, signs of Umar.

If India has to do well tomorrow and ensure final berth, much will depend on this youngster’s form tomorrow.