Leaky defence remains a worry for India, despite a good start at the hockey Asian Champions Trophy

The goal by Pakistan’s Muhammad Irfan Junior in the 39th minute against India in the Asian Champions Trophy in Kuantan on Sunday was a result of a defensive lapse. An unguarded Irfan not only managed to give Pakistan a 2-1 lead, but also exposed the Indian rearguard’s vulnerability.

It was Rupinder Pal Singh who lost control of the ball and Jasjit Singh could not do any better, as Irfan managed to find the space to score the second goal for his team.

The script was the same when India played South Korea in their second match of the tournament on Saturday. Despite enjoying maximum possession, they almost conceded the lead in the first quarter when Jasjit’s concession saw Seo Inwoo in front of the goal with only goalkeeper PR Sreejesh to beat. Luckily for India and Sreejesh, Inwoo miscued the shot.

India somehow managed to remain undefeated in the tournament by salvaging a draw against Korea and registering a narrow 3-2 win over Pakistan. The unbeaten show means they are currently placed second in the points table with seven points from two wins and a draw. But such a sloppy defence could cost them dearly in the knockout stages.

They next face China on Tuesday, followed by a tough encounter the next day against hosts Malaysia, who sit pretty at the top by winning all their three matches comfortably.

Malaysia pose a tough challenge

Eighteenth ranked China are unlikely to trouble India a lot, given their performance in the tournament so far but Malaysia will surely test Roelant Oltmans’ team’s shaky defence. China lost to Malaysia 5-1 in their opening encounter while managing to edge past Japan 2-1 in their next match.

Malaysia, on the other hand, are in marauding form as they outclassed Pakistan 4-2 in the tournament opener and followed it up with a 5-1 drubbing of China. Their 7-2 rout of Japan though, was not as convincing as India’s 10-2 win over the same opponent, but three successive wins must have boosted their confidence ahead of their high-profile clash against India and South Korea on October 26 and 27 respectively.

The hosts have scored 16 goals in the tournament so far and conceded only five. The inaugural champions India matched Malaysia in that sense, as they also succeeded in putting 14 goals past their opponents’ defence in the last three matches while conceding only five.

Given their scoring ability, containing Malaysia will be the key and Roelant Oltmans’ men will need to step up their defence, when they square off against the hosts on Wednesday.

'Need to beef up our defence'

Olympian and Arjuna Awardee Syed Jalaluddin Rizvi believed that India needed to plug the holes in their defensive setup if they had to beat Malaysia and gain an upper hand going into the semifinals.

Rizvi told Scroll: “In the past three matches, India allowed opponents to sneak into their D frequently. [Goalkeeper] Sreejesh, though, managed to save most of those attempts, but such errors can cost India match at the fag end of the event. We should beef up our defence and ensure our defenders take extra caution while handling the ball in the danger zone."

The Olympian, though, sounded content with India’s performance in the tournament so far, but also emphasised on the need for them to improve their finishing acts. “We have had more circle penetrations than our opponents in every game. We also had superior ball possession but somehow, we could not convert those chances. It suggests we need to improve our finishing skills,” analysed Rizvi. “Strikes by Pardeep Mor and Ramandeep Singh against Pakistan are good examples of how we can convert half-chances into goals.”

In all probability, India will qualify for the semi-finals on October 29. They need to win just one match out of the remaining two to make it to the last four. However, wins in the last two encounters will hand India a psychological advantage, which in turn will help them go past their opponents, come the semi-final and final.