Indian hockey captain Sardar Singh pleased with goal against Poland

Sardar Singh (L) in action against Poland

Indian men’s hockey team captain Sardar Singh has asked his forwards to show some more courage and slam more goals as the Hockey World League (HWL) semis enters its business end. India will play neighbours Pakistan on 26th June before finally ending their league matches with a match against top ranked Austalia.

The Haryana-based player said, “We are improving and we need to do a lot to that. We need to score more and more goals.”

The 28-year-old halfback was happy for his team as Poland played a very defensive game. India had almost 60 percent of the ball, but it took some fine individual display from the Walmiki brothers – Yuvraj and Devindar – and PR Sreejesh to keep the result in India’s favour. He also praised the Polish team for their well organised defensive structure.

He added, “Poland is the tough team and pack their defence well. It took some effort to get past them.”

The skipper was pleased to be on the scoresheet after a long time. He made a remarkable run from the 25-yard line before brilliantly finishing in between the legs of the Polish goalkeeper. Before this match, he just had 13 goals in a staggering 217 appearances for his nation.

“It's been a while since I scored a goal and this was a nice conversion,” admitted the Indian captain.

India will play Pakistan in their 3rd encounter in Pool A of the World Hockey League. The match will be telecast live on StarSports at 19:30 IST.