After a promising start to the recently concluded Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, India’s campaign fizzled out as the Bluesticks lost two of the last three league games - losing out on a spot in the final. And according to India’s brilliant young forward Mandeep Singh, the absence of India’s talismanic goalkeeper PR Sreejesh in between the sticks was a telling factor in the last few games.
“Sreejesh’s injury was really crucial. Akash (Chikte), of course, is an able keeper but he (Sreeejesh) is a really calming presence at our back – I think everyone will agree with that. With him getting injured – our backline became a bit vulnerable,” he told Sportskeeda.
India had begun on a great note with a draw against Great Britain followed by a win against New Zealand. In the process, they were playing some on the most sumptuous brand of hockey in the first half against Australia when tragedy struck for India and Sreejesh. A collision with Australian forward Eddie Ockenden left the Indian number 1 on the ground and soon out of action. Till then, in nearly 10 quarters of play, India had conceded only two goals.
And his departure was telling. A goal late on in the first half in the game against Australia opened the floodgates and over the next 10 quarters, Indian would go on to concede seven goals - enough to extinguish their hopes of grabbing a place in the final.
But it was not only a case of the backline not being up to par. In the game against Japan, India enjoyed 62% possession in the game but it took two goals in the final quarter from the stick of Mandeep Singh to seal the win. Those two goals, in fact, sealed a memorable hat-trick for the young Punjabi lad and that included a very special goal with his back to the goal, without having a glance at where the back of the net was.
And even he admits, it was one that he will find it hard to reproduce.
“That goal really was special. I have always been practising getting the right deflections in and I have a great bonding with Harmanpreet and I was expecting a ball into the box. I think that was the key. I have to admit that it's going to be really hard to replicate that goal but that's why we practice so hard – so that we can create that one moment of magic that changes it all for the team,” quips the forward with a broad smile on his face.
India’s faults didn’t lie with their backline alone. In fact, in the final game against Malaysia, Mandeep and co. needed to win by two goals to secure a top two spot. However, they choked badly and ended up losing 0-1, handing the hosts their first win of the tournament.
Whilst the team might not have played to their potential in the tournament, Mandeep Singh has truly bounced back in style after having an Olympic to forget, having failed to score even a single one.
“I am quite happy with the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup performance especially with my own. One of the goals for any forward is to help the team with goals and I was able to do that. So that is a point of satisfaction for me.
“We, of course, had some lapses in the middle of the tournament. We are looking at what went wrong there and are trying to iron them out in the camp.”
The Indian team are currently in a camp in Bangalore as they look to iron out the flaws they had in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup before going off to Germany where they will take on the hosts and Belgium in three-nation invitational. They will then travel to London where they will compete in the semi-final of the World Hockey League – a tournament whose final round will be hosted by India later this year.
