Moving forward: Three ways how Sardar Singh’s exclusion for HWL Final improves Team India

On Friday, India hockey coach Sjored Marijne shook things up in the men’s national squad, after taking over the reigns of the men’s senior national team in September.

In a surprising move, he dropped former India captain and midfielder Sardar Singh from the 18-man squad that will feature in the Hockey World League Final to be held in Bhubaneshwar from December.

During the Asia Cup, Marijne used Sardar as a defender, a move that raised eyebrows, but worked fine overall. But the Dutchman is now turning fit-again defenders Birendra Lakra and Rupinder Pal Singh.

“We have tried combinations with Sardar at defence. But now with Birendra and Rupinder coming back to the team 100% fit, we want to play this combination, which we think is the best. We have that many options,” Marijne had told The Field after the decision was announced.

But how does the absence of Sardar and the inclusion of new players impact the Indian squad going into the HWL Final?

Here’s look at the three key highlights from the team Marijne selected.

Refurbished defence

With four changes to the squad between the Asia Cup the HWL Final, its becoming clear that Marijne wants to try different combinations, before the team heads into the crucial period next year when they play the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the World Cup.

The changes has resulted in a revamped defence. Sardar’s exclusion, combined with the departure of a rusty Surender Kumar, could help rejuvenate the defence. Marijne had hinted at changing things around in the back line following the Asia Cup. Rupinder and Birendra, who have returned to fitness, helped him achieve this – fresh legs added to the squad.

India’s defense now looks complete along with Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Dipsan Tirkey and Varun Kumar. With the exception of Tirkey, India have five drag flickers to choose from.

This might be a step in the right direction to solve India’s penalty corner conversions, which have been below average. “It will be interesting because we have now five drag flickers in the team. So yeah, it will be even more difficult for the opponent on who we are going to choose,” Marijne told The Field.

Faster mid-field

When Sardar did play as a midfielder under Roelant Oltmans, one of the criticism that came India’s way was their lack of pace through the middle of the field. With him gone, the aspect is likely to change.

With captain Manpreet Singh leading the way, the mid-field also consisting Chinglensana Singh, SK Uthappa, Sumit and Kothajit Singh, is likely to produce a faster and attacking style of play. Sans Sardar, they were ruthless during the Asia Cup and will look to continue their run in Bhubaneswar as well.

Marijne’s one-touch hockey worked wonders during the Asia Cup. However, it came against teams ranked below them. “We continue the process from the Asia Cup. We chose this style and want to improve it and make it perfect. We want to play with the same pace and the challenge will be doing it against higher ranked teams,” Marijne told The Field.

Youngsters in focus

Marijne is now clearly banking on the youngsters. Harmanpreet, Varun and Tirkey had impressed during the Asia Cup. Marijne seems to have taken confidence from their performances and is backing them to pull off an encore against tough opponents such as Australia, England and Germany, who they face in the group stage.

“David John started the process of bringing in youngsters and we want to continue that. They did really well at the Asia Cup. Youngsters have to perform. Youngsters cannot be good without senior players. We are always searching for the right mixture,” said Marijne.

India’s young goalkeeper Suraj Karkera has also been retained after their stellar showing in Dhaka where he along with Aakash Chikte conceded just five goals between themselves through the course of the tournament.

“This is the next level and they did really well in the Asia Cup. With the experience they have had, I am happy for them. Sreejesh is working really hard behind the scenes on his recovery and this will also be a nice competition,” said Marijne.