India will back themselves to win the second game of the three match hockey test series against Australia at the newly inaugurated Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel International Stadium here tomorrow.
The series opener ended in a 2-2 draw with V Raghunath scoring twice for the hosts.
The match will take place at the stadium also scheduled to host the coveted Hero Hockey World League Final from November 27-December 6. Tomorrow's match will be the first ever international match hosted by Raipur, and a lot of crowd support is expected as it was seen in the last match at Rajnandgaon.
Reflecting on the opening game, India chief coach Roelant Oltmans said: "It was a good game, but the last minute encroachment by the opponents into our area only exposed the areas we still need to take control of.
"We have addressed the concern areas and our hopeful of a better show tomorrow. The crowd support has been tremendous, and with such terrific support, we are charged to give in our best and not disappoint our fans.
One of the concern areas of the Indian team has been the
tendency to concede late goal.
"In the past we have conceded late goals that have taken away the games from us. We want to eliminate that particular weakness. We have been working on it for some time now, which we will be able to put to test in the tournament," he added.
India have enjoyed a good run in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. They won the prestigious tournament five times in 1985, 91, 95, 2009 and 2010, while they earned bronze on six occasions and finished runners-up once in 2008.
The round-robin format will help the team get decent amount of competition exposure under its belt. It will also give them an opportunity to gauge the fitness level, since the conditions in Ipoh around this time of the year will be extremely hot and humid. The Indian team has shown considerable improvement in the fitness levels in the past couple of year.
TEAM:
GOALKEEPER: Harjot Singh, Akash Anil Chikte
DEFENDERS: Rupinder Pal Singh, Jasjit Singh Kular, Kothajit Singh, Surender Singh, Harmanpreet Singh
MIDFIELDERS: Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh, Manpreet Singh, Sardar Singh, S K Uthappa, Harjeet Singh
FORWARDS: Talwinder Singh, Mandeep Singh, SV Sunil, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah.
