India look to upstage Australia in second hockey Test

Having let world hockey champions Australia escape with a draw in the first of the three-match Test series, India will try not to repeat the mistakes and come out all guns blazing in the second match at the newly inaugurated Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel International Stadium in Raipur.

V.R. Raghunath (centre) scored both the goals in the first test against Australia which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Having let world hockey champions Australia escape with a draw in the first of the three-match Test series, India will try not to repeat the mistakes and come out all guns blazing in the second match at the newly inaugurated Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel International Stadium here on Sunday.

India led 2-1 via V.R. Raghunath’s two successful penalty corner conversions but the hosts’ shaky defence conceded a penalty corner in the 58th minute that was converted by Chris Ciriello for a 2-2 result in Rajnandgaon.

Coming to the second match, India chief coach Roelant Oltmans said they have addressed the shortcomings. “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,” Oltmans said. “We have addressed these concerns and are hopeful of a better show tomorrow.”

This will be the first ever international match hosted in Raipur, and a lot of crowd support is expected as was seen in the last match at Rajnandgaon.

“The crowd support has been tremendous, and with such terrific support, we are charged to give in our best and not disappoint our fans,” said Oltmans, who is also Indian hockey’s high performance director.