Ramandeep Singh sparked off hopes a dramatic late comeback for India but they suffered their second loss of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup on Tuesday, succumbing to a 2-4 loss. Sjoerd Marijne’s side were in the contest for much of the game but a meek collapse in the third quarter – where India shipped three goals – saw their fate sealed.
Tough questions will be asked to the defenders for atleast two of those goals, which came off making schoolboy errors.
The tone of the game, though, was set as early as the second minute of the game with young goalkeeper Krishan Pathak making a superb diving save off Daniel Beale.
The spirit of the young Indian side, which created a couple of good opportunities of their own in the first quarter, was broken through veteran Mark Knowles’ 30th international goal. India completely lost their way in the third-15. Aran Zalewski scored the second after Dylan Wotherspoon set him up with a powerful run and a cut-back from the baseline. In the space of two minutes, Suraj Karkera stood helpless at goal as lax defending saw Australia score their third and fourth goals through Daniel Beale and Blake Govers.
The last two goals came for Australia when Amit Rohidas was on the sidelines because of a yellow card.
In the final quarter, Jeremy Edwards rolled Ramandeep’s shot into the net and a minute later, the Indian forward got another with a smart reverse hit. There were no further slip-ups from Australia’s end as they completed their third win on the bounce.
Indian youngsters impressed but yet again failure to cash in on penalty corner opportunities let them down. Today, Varun Kumar was the culprit, missing both his chances.
India need to win their remaining games – against Ireland and Malaysia – and hope that Argentina suffer defeats in theirs to hope for a place in the final.
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