The 18-member Indian men's hockey team led by the experienced midfielder as well as captain Sardar Singh has left for the 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2018. The team will begin their campaign on March 3 against 2016 Olympic champion Argentina. Speaking about the team's preparations for the tournament, Captain Sardar Singh expressed confidence about their prospects in the prestigious annual event which will see World No.1 Australia, Argentina, England, Ireland, hosts Malaysia in the fray.
"It will be a good competition and Sultan Azlan Shah Cup has for long been a tournament that sets the pace for the rest of the calendar year and doing well here will be important for us. We have had a grueling camp in SAI, Bengaluru where the focus was on taking our attack and defensive skills to the next level," stated the 31-year-old midfielder ahead of the team's departure. In the previous edition, India had finished third after beating New Zealand 4-0 while Great Britain won the title after beating Australia 4-3 in the final.
In the Pool Stage, though India had a mixed outing with a 2-2 draw against Great Britain in their first match, followed by 3-0 win against New Zealand in their second match, but lost to Australia 1-3 before a narrow 4-3 win against Japan. But it was the 0-1 loss against hosts Malaysia that had dented their chance to enter the Final. Since the tournament's inception in 1983, the Indian team has lifted the coveted Cup five times (1985, 1991, 1995, 2009, while they shared the trophy with South Korea in 2010).