Indian Hockey Team's Final-Minute Woes at Azlan Shah Cup

The Indian hockey team finally registered their maiden win in 24th Sultan Azlan Shah beating minnows Canada 5-3. Sardar Singh and company have managed to win only 1 game in 4 outings so far. Their shock loss against Malaysia once again exposed India's frailty in conceding the goal in the final 5 minutes of the match. Malaysia's Sharun Abdullah scored against India in the 58th minute with just 2 minutes left for the final hooter.This problem once again comes back to haunt the blue sticks as this has been one of the major reasons for their inconsistency in hockey for over a decade.

In 2004 Athens Olympics, India's defence conceded a goal to Australia with barely 30 seconds to go for the final hooter as Indian defenders were caught napping. A Similar thing was repeated in the very next game against New Zealand as Kiwis converted a penalty corner in the dying moments of the match to rob India's chances of a podium finish and the blue sticks finished a lowly 7th in the prestigious quadrennial event. (Highlights)

Ten years down the line too history was repeated but this time in the 2014 Hockey World Cup when some poor defending by India allowed Belgium to score a goal with just 15 seconds from the hooter to go down 2-3 in their opening game. A similar sort of thing happened in the very next game when England converted a penalty corner in the 69th minute and lose the match 2-1. In 2014 FIH Champions Trophy too India conceded late goals to teams like Germany and Pakistan to end up on the losing side.

Six different coaches in the span of 11 years have failed to address this problem and this remains a tough challenge for newly appointed coach Paul Van Ass. Sardar Singh and company under guidance of the new Dutch coach needs to iron out their flaws to harbour any chances of a podium finish in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.