Former India hockey coach AK Bansal told espnstar.com that India will be able to lift the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

By Rohit Sakunia

"They should easily win this time. The difference between last time and this time is, last time we had a lot of juniors in the side but this time the entire team consists of the best players in the country," said the former coach.

Speaking about the competition level in the tournament he said that there are not many teams who can pose tough challenge to the Indian team.

"Competition is on the lower side. Last time there were tougher teams. Now there are teams like Egypt and India should be able to beat them easily. Besides, even New Zealand are without some of their key players, so they also don't have a full-strength team," he said.

When asked about what can be the only hurdle in between India and the trophy, the former coach has urged the team to guard against complacency and also be careful against teams like Pakistan and New Zealand, who are capable of causing upset.

"The team should not get complacent if the opposition is considerably weak. They should be especially careful against Pakistan and New Zealand, who may cause upset," said Bansal.

He also said that Sandeep Singh, the skipper will be the player to look forward to during the tournament.

"He is a great drag-flicker and will do well in the tournament."

The former coach also gave his opinion about on the difference between the current ad-hoc committee and the committee which ran the game earlier under KPS Gill.

"The main difference is, this committee does not interfere in the sporting activities and that is to me the key. Freedom is absolutely essential and this body makes sure that is there for the players, coach and the skipper," Bansal concluded.