Hitting Their Stride

Under Harmanpreet Singh's stewardship, the Indian hockey team has had a string of recent successes

-  Shail Desai

On September 17, the final of the Asian Champions Trophy stood goalless at the end of the third quarter. Defending champions India start­ ed favourites, having won all six matches, including a 3­0 rout of the other finalists, China. As the players caught their breath, skipper the moniker of ‘Sarpanch’ as a dominant leader of the pack, spoke up: “I simply asked the team to ensure that we had enough ball possession and made the most of the few opportuni­ ties.” Nine minutes from the final hooter, the Sar­ panch took charge. He made a darting run towards the Chinese goal line, skipping past two defenders before feeding Ju