<p>It will be a test of character for a young and new-look Indian team when it takes on the world champions Australia in its opening encounter of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here tomorrow.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The match between six-time champions Australia and five-time winners India is being billed as the clash of the day.<br /><br />India's chief coach Michael Nobbs came here with a development squad, led by Danish Mujtaba, after resting six of his senior players, including inspirational skipper Sardar Singh for the tournament.<br /><br />Nobbs saw the Azlan Shah Cup to build a strong reserve pool for Indian hockey as he opted to rest some key players like Sardar Singh, S V Sunil and V R Raghunath and instead blooded in youngsters.<br /><br />The fact that India's junior team coach Baljit Singh Saini is accompanying the side is an indication that the team management is looking far beyond the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.<br /><br />Some of the young names that came to the fore during the inaugural Hockey India League -- Mandeep Singh, Malak Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Gurmail Singh, Amit Rohidas, PT Rao and Sushant Tirkey -- will get a much-needed international exposure from this tournament.<br /><br />"We had some objectives in mind when we selected the team for the Azlan Shah Cup. Our main aim is to build a strong team for the Junior World Cup, and we can achieve that only by giving as much international exposure as possible to the junior players," Nobbs had said.<br /><br />"It is also a good opportunity to draft in some junior players as they are the future of Indian hockey. It will also create a healthy competition for places in the team.<br /><br />"Mandeep's (Singh) performance in the Hockey World League is a prime example of the fact that junior players need development. Mandeep found international hockey lot tougher than Hockey India League. He has got talent but require development," he added.</p>
<p>It will be a test of character for a young and new-look Indian team when it takes on the world champions Australia in its opening encounter of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here tomorrow.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The match between six-time champions Australia and five-time winners India is being billed as the clash of the day.<br /><br />India's chief coach Michael Nobbs came here with a development squad, led by Danish Mujtaba, after resting six of his senior players, including inspirational skipper Sardar Singh for the tournament.<br /><br />Nobbs saw the Azlan Shah Cup to build a strong reserve pool for Indian hockey as he opted to rest some key players like Sardar Singh, S V Sunil and V R Raghunath and instead blooded in youngsters.<br /><br />The fact that India's junior team coach Baljit Singh Saini is accompanying the side is an indication that the team management is looking far beyond the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.<br /><br />Some of the young names that came to the fore during the inaugural Hockey India League -- Mandeep Singh, Malak Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Gurmail Singh, Amit Rohidas, PT Rao and Sushant Tirkey -- will get a much-needed international exposure from this tournament.<br /><br />"We had some objectives in mind when we selected the team for the Azlan Shah Cup. Our main aim is to build a strong team for the Junior World Cup, and we can achieve that only by giving as much international exposure as possible to the junior players," Nobbs had said.<br /><br />"It is also a good opportunity to draft in some junior players as they are the future of Indian hockey. It will also create a healthy competition for places in the team.<br /><br />"Mandeep's (Singh) performance in the Hockey World League is a prime example of the fact that junior players need development. Mandeep found international hockey lot tougher than Hockey India League. He has got talent but require development," he added.</p>