The Indian hockey team faces its first test after the Asian Games in the Azlan Shah hockey tournament in Malaysia next week. It will be up against World champions Germany, who won the tournament in 1987 and 2001, Asian Games champions South Korea, Pakistan, New Zealand and Malaysia. And despite not having much time to prepare the team, coach Rajinder Singh is hopeful of a good showing in the tournament.
"We have a mixture of experience and youth in the team. The team is led by Dhanraj Pillay, who despite his age has been improving as a player with every tournament he plays. In addition to him we have three more experienced players in Mukesh Kumar, Baljeet Singh Dhillon and Dilip Tirkey, who all have led the Indian hockey team at some time or the other," Rajinder said, on the eve of the 18-member team's departure for Kuala Lumpur in the wee hours of Tuesday.
India, who won the title in 1985, plays its first match against New Zealand on March 22.
"New Zealand has a young side but they are hoping to do well. We play Germany in the next match on March 23. Then we clash with South Korea and Pakistan on March 25 and 26 respectively. I am confident we will improve our standing in this tournament. The tournament will give us the much-needed exposure and also tell us how the team is faring under the new set of rules that would be in operation in this championship," he said.
Rajinder, who was coach of India's junior World Cup-winning team in 2001, singled out Deepak Thakur, Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh and Tejbir Singh in the forward line for special mention.
Asked if the team management is preparing a second line of players to replace those who are not doing well or are not fit, Rajinder said "unfit players would not find a place in the team".
"No matter how experienced the player may be, if he is not fit he is not going to be part of the team. We have selected an 18-member team and each player would be tried out at the tournament.
"Tushar Khandekar, Rajpal Singh and Sandeep Michael are good second rung players. We are using this tournament to prepare our team for the Olympics next year," he informed.
Rajinder claimed that after he took over eight months back, the team's performance has improved considerably.
"We finished second in the Asian Games and fourth in the Champions Trophy. I am sure after this tournament is over we will improve our ranking," he added.
He said special attention is being paid to the fitness of the players. "At Manesar [where the training camp was held] our emphasis was on fitness. All the players are fit to play 90 minutes of fast hockey on the newly-laid astro turfs which is faster than the previous ones. So fitness has to be the foremost criteria for selection of any player into the final eleven," he said.
Talking about the sudden return of Mukesh Kumar and Baljit Dhillon, who were not considered for the Champions Trophy and Asian Games, he said the two players are absolutely fit and have also improved their game considerably.
"Baljit has five years of international hockey ahead of him still. I am confident that the two players would justify their selection," he said.
