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Australia vs India: 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – Day 3 Preview

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Australia vs India: 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – Day 3 Preview
The 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup will open its third day at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia on May 8. The first match of the day will be played between the number one team, Australia, and India.
Australian team
The Kookaburras set a record when they became the first team ever to win three International Hockey titles, namely the 2010’s World Cup, Champions Trophy and Commonwealth Games Title. The Azlan Shah of 2010 was the only title that the Australian men failed
to achieve, ending up with a bronze after defeating the Malaysian team by 5-3 in the play-off match.
The team has a current record of a total five Azlan Shah gold medal wins from the years 1983, 1998, 2004, 2005 and 2007 along with a silver win in 2006. This year, the squad is missing its four-time world player of the year, Jamie Dwyer, who has recently
undergone knee surgery due to a serious injury. Like the Indian team, the Aussies have many senior players on the bench and on the road to recovery. Most of them are not well enough to play in the Azlan Shah Cup.
The key players absent from the squad include Des Abbott, Joel Carroll, Kieran Govers and Graeme Begbie, who are on the injured list, whereas Rob Hammond, Luke Doerner, Mark Knowles and Eddie Ockenden are busy in Holland club matches.
Indian Team
India gave an unimpressive start to the Azlan Shah tourney by an unexpected defeat from Korea in the closing minutes of the match with a 2-3 score-line. However, the team made an early comeback by defeating Great Britain by 3-1.
Like the Australian team, they also have many senior players either at rest or unavailable by the time the Azlan Shah reached their doorstep. These hockey gems include the former captain Rajpal Singh and Tushar Khandekar, who still need to recover from their
injuries whereas two key defenders Sandeep Singh and Sardara Singh were not selected due to conflicts with Hockey India (HI).
The fallbacks in the squad are some youngsters who seem to lack the spark required for the team. Keeping in view the importance of winning the Azlan Cup this year, India is short of preparation for completing their hat-trick win this year.
The team has a record of eight time Olympic wins with three to four consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1928- 1936, 1948-1964 and 1980. Moreover, the team has a record of five Azlan Cup victories from the years 1985, 1991, 1995, 2009 and 2010 and has finished
nine times as runners-up in the Asian Games.
Players to watch
From the Kookaburra side, Jason Wilson, with less than 40 caps will be a treat to watch. He managed to earn 17 goals in 36 international matches. On the other hand, the Indian skipper, Arjun Halappa, holds a record of more than 223 international caps until
now and is expected to show the best of his abilities, being the captain of the team.
Head-to-head Statistics
The last two encounters between the Australian and Indian team took place last year in the 2010 Commonwealth Games final when Kookaburras earned a solitary win of 8-0 over India. Prior to this meeting, the teams played in the 2010 World Cup in which Australia
defeated India by 5-2.
Both the teams are expected to give a tough time to each other in this Azlan Shah encounter.
Prediction
On one side, the Indian team is chasing their three in a row for Azlan Shah whereas the Australian team’s win from yesterday has boosted their confidence.  The match will be a head-to-head fight, however, Australia is expected to defeat India by 4-3.

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