Injury-hit India take on confident Australia

Injuries are India’s biggest headache as they prepare to take on four-time defending champions Australia in what promises to be a draining semifinal encounter of the Champions Trophy here on Saturday.

Two Indian players will carry their injuries into the match against the Australians.
Captain Sardar Singh and midfielder Manpreet Singh have gamely carried on playing as necessitated by the call of duty despite severe limitations caused by the injuries sustained during the ongoing tournament.

They will again be out in the field as India try to stop Australia’s title-winning sequence in the Champions Trophy.

Australia have a phenomenal record, winning four successive titles since losing the 2007 final to Germany.

Australia have been content with narrow victories in earlier games, and it was their defence that played a crucial role -- conceding just two goals in four matches.

The semifinal is expected to be a tough game physically, and coach Michael Nobbs admitted it. “Our defenders were simply brilliant, but the forwards did not handle the ball well in the quarterfinals. These forwards have not been doing this in earlier games, so it probably seems to be a question of being out of position. We’ve worked on that today,” said Nobbs.

Nobbs said he was pleased with the team’s show in the Champions Trophy, which India entered by virtue of a wild-card despite finishing last in the 12-nation Olympic Games hockey competition.

“Making the Champions Trophy semifinals has been wonderful after some disappointing results recently,” said coach Nobbs, bringing into context India’s disappointing show in the Olympics where they finished last.

Nobbs complimented the Indian defence for standing its ground to carry India into the semifinals.

India defenders VR Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh played a crucial role in keeping India afloat and held on to the early lead despite the strikers losing he ball easily and putting the defence under pressure.

These two defenders and goalkeeper PT Rao will have to reproduce the same form if India is to entertain hopes of getting past hosts Australia. Sardar has also been playing a withdrawn role, and is expected to do so again on Saturday.

In the other semifinal, Pakistan is hoping to test the ability of the Netherlands defence.