Indian hockey team take on Australia

Rajndgaon (Chhattisgarh), Nov 18: The Indian hockey team will take on reigning World Champions and World No.1 side Australia in first of the three-match Test series here on Thursday.

This series is to prepare for the year-ending, eight-team Hockey World League (HWL) Fil that will be held in Raipur from November 27 to December 6.

“We have had a couple of good training sessions and the boys are looking forward to take on Australia in the Test series. They are a formidable team and we are confident of putting on a good show in front of the home crowd,” India chief coach Roelant Oltmans said on Wednesday.

The series will give both teams much needed match practice for the major tourment ahead. They will also test bench strength and try out strategies before heading to Raipur for the second and third matches. (IANS)