Momentum, exposure, execution: these three words suffice to project how India will approach the beginning of a new season, in Ipoh, Malaysia, at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup – the 26th edition of a tournament that top hockey nations rank as the best grooming ground for young legs.

It’s been seven years since Indian hands felt the glistening surface of the trophy. But a lot has happened in that half-plus decade, ranging from the low of a wooden spoon at London 2012 to winning the Asian Games gold in 2014 and the Champions Trophy silver as well as the junior World Cup last year. The climb reflects in India’s current rank of No 6 – a clear leader in Asia, ahead of South Korea (12th), Pakistan (13th) and Malaysia (14th).

A fresh set of ideas

But while it’s always good to enter the striking circle in numbers, for a forecast to hinge on figures isn’t a wise idea.

“New” is the keyword for captain PR Sreejesh and coach Roelant Oltmans.“New” season, “new”comers and “new” strategies form the core of India’s focus in Ipoh.

In the year of the Asia Cup and the Hockey World League Final, the Indian think-tank is not just blooding young players but also a fresh set of ideas in order to achieve their targets.

The closest hint of that lies in the words of Sardar Singh, who is living on thin ice after a poor Hockey India League season.

“The coach has given me a specific role to play and my aim is to execute that plan to perfection,” Sardar told Scroll.

Oltmans answered the question on Sardar’s uncertain future with a straight “no”, but it’s not a secret that the former captain’s career is at stake, especially after seeing VR Raghunath left out of the squad.

The seasoned defender wasn’t even among the probables for the month-long national camp after the HIL. The no-nonsense man in Oltmans has always put performance over reputation, which is why Sardar and even Rupinder Pal Singh need to be at their best in Ipoh.

Performance over reputation

Three debutants and six junior World Cup winners are enough evidence that India’s approach to the season-opener is futuristic.

Defender Gurinder Singh as well as midfielders Sumit and Manpreet have earned their stripes, pushing seniors for their spots in the national squad.

Junior World Cup captain Harjeet Singh and his team-mates Harmanpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh are cementing their place in the senior squad.

Surender Kumar and striker Affan Yousuf are examples of HIL performers being rewarded. It leaves little doubt that Oltmans doesn’t want any talent to go untested, but rookie goalkeeper Suraj Karkera was unlucky in that regard as he got injured just before the team’s departure and was replaced by Akash Chikte. Akash was Sreejesh’s deputy at the Asian Champions Trophy last year and part of the goalkeeping group being groomed by Hockey India

The holistic idea, however, is to widen the pool from which to pick squads and use non-FIH events like the Azlan Shah to prepare them for sterner tests.

“I would love to see our juniors get at least 10-15 matches to play before we start preparing for the World League Final (in December 2017),” said Sreejesh.

“Azlan Shah is a good tournament that gets top international teams and since this is the first big tournament of the year, we would like our junior players to get good match exposure,” he added.

For coach Oltmans, the word “new” goes much beyond newcomers and revolves around “new attacking and defending strategies”.

Improving on penalty corners

In that attempt, former India defender Jugraj Singh has been brought in as dragflick coach, along with ex-captain and goalkeeper Bharat Chhetri.

“We will try out in this tournament what we have been training. On paper it looks good but it needs to be implemented on the pitch now,” said Oltmans.

He also revealed the specific instructions he relayed to Jugraj, besides coaching drag-flicks.

“Jugraj is helping the players in defending structure (as well) and transition from the more Indian style of defending to the style what we require from them,” the coach said.

In Raghunath’s absence, Harmanpreet is expected to get the maximum match-time alongside Rupinder. However, both were scratchy in their penalty-corner conversions during the HIL. In 10 matches, Rupinder scored six goals on PCs and Harmanpreet five.

Jugraj would want that percentage to go up, considerably.

On the experience front, other than Sreejesh and Sardar, India will bank on Chinglensana Singh and Manpreet Singh Sr in the midfield, while SV Sunil and Akashdeep Singh will hold the strings of the forward-line. Sunil though, will have to complement his speed with goals more regularly to stay

in contention.

How the other teams line up

Nine-time champions Australia will be India’s chief rivals in the bid to win the title. The Kookaburras too have sprinkled their Mathew Swann-led squad with youngsters. Mark Knowles, the original captain, pulled out at the last moment

New Zealand, captained by Arun Panchia of Indian origin, will also miss the services of big names due to injury and European commitments. Simon Child and Nick Haig are among the stars that won’t be part of the action in Ipoh.

Great Britain are also using the tournament to prepare for the Hockey World League semi-finals in London this June. While Ashley Jackson won’t be available, Barry Middleton and Mark Gleghorne have been brought back to the 18.

Hosts Malaysia aren’t taking any chances as hosts, naming their squad with a good mix of youth and experience in their bid for a maiden triumph having finished runners-up five times in the past.

Ranked 16th, Japan may appear to be the punching bag of the tournament, but they have surprised India in the past, and can do that again to catch their opponents napping.

In conclusion, the best way to frame last-edition runners-up India’s approach in Ipoh can be found in former India striker Jagbir Singh’s words.

“There is no room for attitude and complacency under Oltmans. He means business and seeks performance. The result of that approach has served India well, and could deliver another Azlan Shah trophy.”