Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, May 2: After finishing third at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, which was Paul van Ass’s first major assignment as a coach of the Indian hockey team, the Dutchman is determined to prepare a squad for the upcoming tournaments by utilising his full squad against Japan in a four-match Test series starting at the Kalinga Stadium here Sunday.
“During Azlan Shah I got a chance to gel with the players and now I have become very well accustomed with them and we are making progress,” Van Ass said here Saturday prior to the game against Japan. “My plan is to keep things simple without making too many changes.”
Japan are ranked 16th, seven rungs below ninth-placed India, but Van Ass doesn’t want to read too much into it. “You cannot take a team lightly on the basis of the rankings, even India defeated a higher ranked the Netherlands team in the Champions Trophy here, so in international hockey you always have to be alert. Japan are a skilful side and I think they will give us a tough fight,” he said.
Captain Sardar Singh felt that India are slowly but steadily trying to adjust to Van Ass’ style of play. “It’s been a short stint with him (Van Ass) but I am sure the players are getting used to his style. In the Azlan Shah he only focussed on mental preparations and now all the players will get a game or two to prove themselves and keep their place in the team,” Sardar stated.
In the recent past India have been guilty of letting in late goals and they are working on it rectify this loophole. “We should make sure that our concentration levels don’t drop till the hooter,” said Sardar. “We need to close out the gaps very quickly with better positioning to guard against conceding easy goals,” Van Ass pointed out.
The stadium authorities have made the entry to the venue, free, for the spectators.
