India beat the buzzer

It was being touted as a testing ground for some new talent in Indian hockey on the big stage. But in their opening match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup against China in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Thursday, the Indian team that took the field had 10 players from the recent World Cup.

They managed to avoid being humiliated by a young Chinese side through a desperate goalmouth melee, the equaliser scored by Ravi Pal — someone who last played international hockey in January 2009 in a test series and, prior to that, figured briefly on the national stage in 2005 — 17 seconds from time. This time too, he had been included only on chief coach Jose Brasa’s insistence, and Ravi Pal did not disappoint.

For the most experienced team in the fray, though, the performance was not something that the team management would have expected, and coach Harendra Singh admitted that. “We made some silly mistakes. We should have won the match but let go of several scoring chances,” he said.

Those several chances included five penalty corners and half-a-dozen field goal attempts, the misses made all the more worse by the fact that the Indian forwardline in the tournament includes almost all the players who figured in the World Cup.

Tushar Khandker, back in the attack, and Shivendra Singh, however, did manage to combine well and create chances, but failed to convert them.

It was a sloppy performance from defending champions India. The Indians failed to take control even as China, beginning cautiously, gradually upped the ante. The saving grace was goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who was confident under the bar and managed to bring about some clear goalbound saves.

China got their first chance at the goal in the fifth minute but Sreejesh parried it away. They then went ahead in the 13th minute through Man of the Match Sun Tianjun, playing his 100th international game.

Wasted chances

Relying on their speed and stamina, the Chinese were content playing a defensive game waiting for chances to counterattack. However, India failed to take advantage of their territorial superiority.

“We had only one drag-flicker in the line-up as Rupinder Pal Singh was rested. We tried different combinations, which did not work,” assistant coach Clarence Lobo said after the match. The lack of penalty corner specialists did hurt India’s chances, and it is a cause for concern that, in the absence of Sandeep Singh and Diwakar Ram, India don’t seem to have many options in the department.

India next play Pakistan, and even though the opponents are fielding a fairly unknown team, Thursday’s game would not be the best preparation for a match not often dependent on planning and cold statistics.

“We will try to take it as just another match but yes, India-Pakistan is difficult to be treated like one once you are on the field. But we have more experienced players than them so we should hold the advantage,” Harendra said.

Meanwhile, the Indian team have already managed to rake up a controversy with Brasa refusing to attend the mandatory press conference citing a Sports Authority of India gag on him. The matter has been reported to the tournament director.

In other games, Korea blanked Egypt 6-0 and Pakistan salvaged a 3-3 draw 20 seconds from time against Malaysia.