Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: India failed to convert their intensity and possession into goals

Despite holding large chunks of possession, an Indian team — which seemed more impulsive than tactical — had to walk away satisfied with a 2-2 draw on the opening day of the 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament in Ipoh. Two hours of twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the rains and lightning to go away, would make any team sluggish after their warm-up routine had been interrupted.  The first quarter was testament to that — India and Great Britain struggled in their build up, unable to clearly set a pace or work up a movement that could be threatening. Yet, both coaches wouldn’t be too upset with a draw.

Indian coach Roelant Oltmans said, “I can learn to accept this result. Obviously playing in Malaysia, we have to be prepared for the weather. The long delay did affect our momentum. Of course, I did expect both teams to play a hard game after the first quarter. Overall, it was our first match in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup today and first since November. We hope to play much better in the next few matches.”

Great Britain’s coach Bobby Crutchley, who took the GB side to a 4th place in the 2014 World Cup and then saw them slide to 9th at the Rio Olympics, said, “We played pretty well and did not give India much space to move with the ball. It was indeed a very tight game and I am happy with the way the players came back fighting hard after going down twice.”

GB would be happy with the way they pulled back two equalisers, especially the second one as they had just over ten minutes left in the match. But it was a game marred by errors and clearly the goals came off defensive lapses which in the video session, none of the defenders and even PR Sreejesh would be too proud of.

Both teams had their moments, but nothing that could be called exciting or exhilarating. The build-ups were solid and once in the 3rd quarter, India looked good with Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh and Harjeet, combining in the midfield. The captain of the day, Manpreet, former captain Sardar and Junior World Cup champion captain Harjeet gave a glimpse of what the future might be for the Indian midfield going into the 2018 World Cup. There was enough workload for Sardar who flipped his own position between right back, left back and pushed across as a central midfielder whenever Manpreet was substituted. By the 4th quarter, he seemed a little out of steam. But as Oltmans said, the Indians haven’t played an international match since the Asian Champions Trophy where, incidentally, Sardar was the man-of-the-match in the final.

Even with the GB forwards relying on moving in from the flanks and using the counter-attacks, the Indian defence looked secure when Harmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar and Rupinder Pal Singh combined. Gurinder Singh, who made his debut, impressed. It was good to see Rupinder Pal Singh playing sweeper in the 3rd quarter when three defenders were behind him. With so much of quality on the field, India should have snapped up the three points. But issues are there in the Indian striking force.

The control in the midfield was competent enough but the push in the GB striking circle wasn’t clean with Mandeep Singh and Sunil not trapping or looking for better placed forwards. Mandeep Singh, even though he scored the second goal, tried to be cute more than once, giving away the ball and allowing GB to build counter-attacks. The lad has been playing for some time now and was an integral part of the 2014 World Cup team but his improvement has been slow and tedious. To his credit, he has the build, height and a lovely balance when on the ball, but the poacher’s instinct, so vital for a central striker, needs to be visible on the international stage.

The opening goal came off India’s only penalty corner in the match. Even though the ball wasn’t stopped cleanly, Manpreet pressed and shot towards the GB goalkeeper Harry Gibson, who, surrounded by his own players, had to take it on the pads. Lurking on Gibson’s right was Akashdeep who slotted home the opening goal in the 19th minute.

Great Britain still held forth at the back, refusing to open up their midfield, knowing the speed of the Indian forwards. Yet they stitched together a lovely move on the right flank. The Indian defence followed Christopher Griffith all the way on the flank, giving him the space and then suddenly in a burst of speed, he tapped a perfect cross to Tom Carson in the middle of the Indian striking circle. Flash of a stick later, Sreejesh had been beaten on his stronger right side. Maybe, it was a momentary loss of focus from Sreejesh or purely the brilliance of Carson’s hit but the equaliser stunned India.

Combinations were tried out and the Indian midfield had possession; the ball was rotated around the turf as the defenders passed it around with the midfielders looking for that elusive gap to appear. But the GB defence was solid. Finally, in the 47th minute, India squeezed in a cross from the right and the Indian captain Manpreet was the one who created the second goal also for India. He tapped it for Sunil who flicked it to Mandeep, perfectly positioned to swat it in for India to take the lead. With 13 minutes to go, it seemed that India might have three points; possession pointing towards that thought process. In the last two matches, at the World Hockey League in Raipur and then in the 2016 Champions Trophy, India had beaten England 2-1. GB was resilient and didn’t falter in their search for the equaliser. Moving down the flank, the ball was caught in a melee just outside the Indian striking circle. India couldn’t clear as Ian Sloan drilled it through a gap in the Indian defence. Alan Forsyth deflected it in for the equaliser. At 2-2, it was anybody’s game.

The game tightened up and both the teams were cautious. Suddenly out of the blue with 56 seconds to go, GB had a penalty corner, their first of the match. Phil Roper’s flick flew past the post as the Indian team heaved a sigh of relief. Points shared, both the teams trudged off. GB could have pocketed the match in the last seconds. India could have closed it in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Sharing of points seemed fair enough for both.

Both coaches had contrasting reactions.  Oltmans said, “My only disappointment is we did not make good use of our chances and only earned one penalty corner throughout the match. The young players gave a good performance, including Sumit, who is making his debut with the seniors. Like I said, I can accept the result as we played well overall.”

Crutchley summed up the last few seconds. “I just wish we had scored in the last penalty corner and that would have made a lot of difference. Generally, it was a good game playing against the World No 6 who have had a great season.”

Amazingly, all the three matches on the opening day have been draws – India vs Great Britain 2-2; Australia vs New Zealand 1-1 and Malaysia vs Japan 1-1. India now play the Kiwis on Sunday and would look forward to convert that intensity and possession into goals.