Sardar Singh. (TOI Photo)
India entered the Asian Champions Trophy as defending champions and the most successful team in the tournament’s history, having won the title five times.
It helps you in your normal game,” he said. NEW DELHI: Indian men’s hockey has made significant strides over the last few years, with back-to-back Olympic bronze medals followed by consecutive Asian Games gold medals. For former India captain Sardar Singh , however, sustaining that success will require more than technical ability and physical fitness. It will demand discipline, sharper game management and the ability to execute plans without lapses. The competition, which begins in Jalandhar and moves to Mohali for the knockout stages, provides another opportunity for the Harmanpreet Singh-led side to build on its recent success. “You get to see more goals, and you cannot miss even a second. You can score a goal at any time, and you always get to learn a lot from this.
“In modern hockey, you have to play disciplined hockey for 60 minutes. If you play with 10 players, you cannot survive in modern hockey,” he said, referring to the importance of maintaining discipline and avoiding situations that leave a team numerically disadvantaged.
You must have seen our physical fitness and the amount of hard work that goes into it,” Sardar said. There were many things we wanted to do on the field, but at that time, there was no movement in that direction,” he said. Sardar, however, believes the margins at the highest level are too small to allow even brief lapses in concentration. Having played international hockey at the highest level, the former midfielder understands how quickly a match can turn when a team loses its shape or fails to follow tactical instructions. He also stressed the need to understand the finer aspects of match management, particularly when a team is protecting a lead. “How to manage the game, where to hold when you are winning and how to kill time — we need to focus on these things. Individually, we are very strong. “In the junior team, I see that the basics of the kids are very poor. I have played modern hockey with the best players and worked with the best coaches.