India versus Malaysia: 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – Day 5 Preview
On the fifth day of the 20th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, India will come head-to-head with the host Malaysia at the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Stadium in Malaysian city of Ipoh, on May 09.
Indian Team
The Indian team started the event quite unimpressively and unexpectedly lost to South Korea by a single point in the concluding minutes of the game. However, the team revved it up and made an early comeback into the Azlan Shah tourney by an impressive victory
against Great Britain and a draw against World Champions, Australia.
The Indian side is currently missing a number of players due to injuries and unavailability. These hockey legends include former skipper, Rajpal Singh, Sandeep Singh, Sardara Singh and Tushar Khandekar. Rajpal and Khandekar were unavailable with the team
owing to non-recovery from their injuries, while Sardara and Sandeep Singh failed to report the training camp on-time.
The youngsters inducted in the squad as replacements of senior players could not fill their vacuum. India is looking to complete the hat-trick of Azlan Shah Tourneys in this year. The Indians have an outstanding track record in hockey, as they won eight
gold medals in the Olympics and five Azlan Shah Cup titles.
Malaysian Team
Alike the Indian team, Malaysia, the host squad, also made changes in the squad ahead of the Azlan Shah tourney. Azreen Rizal Nasir was out from the squad owing to injury in the practice contest. Furthermore, seasoned drag-flicker Mohamed Amin Rahim is also
not part of the squad. The space of senior players was filled with youngsters including Azammi Adabi and Izzat Mohd Rahim.
Malaysia, the team currently holding 15th place in the world ranks, failed to compete in FIH Hockey World Cup 2010. However, they contested the Commonwealth Games and secured 8th place in the event. Their previous loss against Pakistan
was by 2-0 which was a big shock for them, as they reached for first time in the finals of a major tournament. Malaysia lost the opening two games in the hands of Great Britain and Australia.
Players to watch
From the Indian side, Arjun Halappa will have all the attention from the spectators for showing his skills, similar to what he performed in the last game. He has had 223 international caps in his credit and expected to render outstanding performance in the
upcoming fixtures. From the other side, Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin will be the shine-out player among the others.
Head-to-Head Statistics
The two squads had a memorable last encounter when Malaysia defeated India in the semi-finals of the 16th Asian Games. It was the most shocking defeat for the Indian team from the 15th ranked Malaysia.
Prediction
India is eyeing at their third title of the Azlan Shah Cup whereas the host Malaysia is required a victory in order to make a comeback into the game. The game will be head-to-head, India are expected to win the game by a single goal.
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