Four Nations Tournament: Asian hockey champions India face Australia

NEW DELHI: The Indian men’s hockey team, which last month was crowned winners of the Asian Champions Trophy, begin their Four Nations Tournament campaign today at 2:30pm IST against hosts Australia in Melbourne.
The Kangaroos are the No 1 ranked hockey team in the world and this week beat New Zealand to lift Trans-Tasman Trophy. India are ranked sixth.The last time India met Australia on the hockey field was during the Champions Trophy in London in June, when the Kangaroos won 3-1.
New Zealand and Malaysia are the other teams in the Four-Nations Tournament. India play Malaysia on November 24 at 12:30pm IST and New Zealand on November 26 at 11:30am IST.
The current Indian team is led by experienced drag-flicker VR Raghunath, with goalkeeper PR Sreejesh still recuperating from a knee injury sustained during the semi-final of the ACT against Korea in Kuantan, Malaysia. Raghunath, who was rested for that tournament, is in charge of an 18-member squad with Defender and fellow drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh his deputy. Rupinder was the highest goal-scorer in the ACT.
In Sreejesh’s absence, Akash Chikte will shoulder the responsibility of goalkeeping. Uttar Pradesh's Abhinav Kumar Pandey is the other goalkeeper in the squad. Besides Sreejesh, senior strikers SV Sunil and Ramandeep Singh too are out due to injuries.
"The Asian Champions Trophy win has boosted the morale of the players and the team's spirit is high. However, playing in Australia is a different challenge and we are up for it. We have beaten Australia in their home earlier in 2014 Test series and we will be looking for a repeat performance this time too," Raghunath had commented earlier this month when the squad was named.

The competition will be followed by a Test series between India and Australia.
Team:
Goalkeepers: Akash Chikte, Abhinav Kumar Pandey
Defenders: Rupinder Pal Singh, Pardeep Mor, VR Raghunath, Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar
Midfielders: Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh, S K Uthappa
Forwards: Talwinder Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah, Affan Yousuf, Mohammad Amir Khan, Satbir Singh, Akashdeep Singh