Strikers need to play more responsibly: Sardar Singh

India are yet to register a victory at the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament

Following two games that were marked by missed opportunities, Indian Hockey Captain Sardar Singh has spoken out against the forwardline on whom he blamed India’s unimpressive show at the ongoing Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh so far.

India drew its first game against Korea 1-1 before going down to New Zealand 1-2. India’s failure to emerge victor is particularly agonising when seen against the light of the many scoring opportunities of which its strikers, Ramandeep Singh in particular, made a hash of. Akashdeep Singh and NikkinThimmaiah both have a goal to their names and haven’t disappointed the team but Ramandeep’s performance hasn’t been anything to write home about.

The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is Dutch coach Paul Van Ass’s first assignment with the Indian team. The tournament’s importance, however, extends beyond immediate concerns of both the team and coach since it is largely being seen as a preparation for India’s Olympic campaign next year in Rio.

Speaking on the eve of India’s encounter against Malaysia, Sardar Singh, speaking to PTI, gave vent to his frustration, but remained optimistic about India’s chances. “We have seen in the last two matches finishing has been a problem for us. The strikers need to play more responsibly because every single ball has value. We need to be sharper inside the 25 metre circle. We are also witnessing some problems in trapping the ball," he said.

"In any tournament every participating team's target is to reach the final. If we timely avail our chances in the coming matches we will get positive results," he added sounding positive.

Pointing out that the tournament marked the beginning of India’s preparations for the Rio Olympics, Sardar said, “This tournament is our first preparation for Rio Olympics. We are working on various things here. We are working on how to play under pressure, how to lift our morale after a loss. It is a learning process for us. But as a team we need to back each other."

Sardar made little effort to mask his disappointment at the manner in which India had fared at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. But, he was also quick to highlight the point that India’s true aim in the event was to grow as a team, an endeavour in which he sees the team succeeding in.

"Yes we are little disappointed with results because we have played better than our opponents. All the players have been playing well since last year so they have high expectations. Our target in this tournament is to play well. At the end of the day we should be satisfied that we are growing as a team. We also need to look at the mistakes which we are committing here and learn from them" he said.

Sardar also touched upon some of the changes that the new coach Van Ass was trying to ring in, pointing out that the latter was imparting tactical knowledge that would invariably take time to absorb and implement. "We are trying a few new things in the midfield and forward line. The new coach (Van Ass) is teaching us plenty of tactical things but it will take some time," he said.

"The good thing is that we are getting the chance to play competitive, pressure games here," Sardar concluded.