Sultan Azlan Shah Cup : Shivendra Satisfied As India And Australia Share Spoils

Australia 1-1 India (Photos courtesy of Megat Muzzammil

World Champions, a dry pitch, hot and humid weather. What else could have gone in hard for the Indian team. And yet they held on for a very impressive point against the Australians who were in a class of their own today. From the manner in which it all began, a trashing looked the obvious outcome for the Indians, who were very much on the back-foot for most of the first half. Rupinder Pal Singh looked shaky at the back after a glorious hat-rick two days ago and it did not take long for the Aussies to open the scoring.

In the 14th minute, Jacob Whetton sent a firm drive into the boards moving across from the right wing which went past India goalkeeper into the goal as Australia took a deserved lead. Nevertheless, India did have their fair chance of scoring as well in the 19th minute when Arjun Halappa presented Shivendra Singh with a glorious chance to level the score but the latter fumbled despite being in a one-on-one situation.

However, the Indians did earn themselves a very precious equaliser when Rupinder Pal Singh restored parity by scoring his fourth goal of the tournament with a fine grounded drag-flick that beat George Bazeley. But frankly speaking, Australia could have increased the lead but failure to make the cut when it mattered portrayed their inability to convert any of their three penalty corner’s in the first half.

In the second half, India came up with much more intensity and desire and they broke free on numerous occasions to only be stopped by resolute defending from the Australians. Gurvinder Singh Chandi failed to make count of a great chance in the 60th minute as the score became more and more imminent as time progressed. Rupinder Pal Singh was sent off for a foul in the 65th minute but India hung on for a very precious point at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium.

Before the match, there were some problems with the sprinklers that left the pitch dry on several sections. Worse still, the players had to withstand scorching heat in Ipoh and Shivendra acknowledged that it could have been much different if not for the weather.

Shivendra had to be on the back-foot for most of the match today (Photos courtesy of Megat Muzzammil)

“It was a very difficult game today against Australia today. We were quite slow in the first 15 minutes but the weather did not help in either. It was very hot and the our players got exhausted at times. So it was quite difficult to adapt in these situations today. But we are content with what we got today.”

Nevertheless, the were a few moments of controversy with the officiating as Shivendra lamented those poor decisions made by the umpires today.

“The umpire was simply not good enough today. Too many decisions went against us and there were a couple of needless cards being thrown against our players, especially Rupinder’s sending off. It was not good enough for an international competition of this stature.”

Anyhow, it was a valuable point for Harendra Singh’s men, considering the amount of possession Australia had. While the score could have been much worse for them, credit has to be given for India’s resilience in defence, especially the performance of goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza and Dhananjay Mahadik. Their next match will be against hosts Malaysia tomorrow and Shivendra was aware of the challenge they face tomorrow night.

“Tomorrow is a big day for us. The stadium will be packed but we will be confident of absorbing it and performing well. The fact that we will play at night is already something to look forward to and we hope that we can do our best to lift the hopes of India once again.”