A confident India is all set to take on Australia in the FIH Professional Hockey League in their seventh match of the tournament here on Saturday. .

India started their campaign in Bhubaneswar with a convincing 4-1 win over Spain, followed by a thrilling 2-2 (4-2) penalty shootout victory over the Netherlands, the highest-ranked team in the world.

India then lost 4-6 to Australia, but bounced back with a 1-0 win over Ireland to end the Bhubaneswar match on a high. India then emerged victorious over Spain on penalties (8-7) after the score was tied 2-2 in normal time in their first match in the Rourkela-Leh tournament.

This was followed by another thrilling match that ended in a penalty shootout after the score was 1-1 in normal time with India losing on penalties to the Netherlands 2-4.

The Indians expressed optimism on the eve of their decisive match against Australia, against which they lost 4-6 in their last meeting, which was held in Bhubaneswar earlier this month.

However, India will draw inspiration from the fact that they won on both occasions in Rourkela when the two faced off in the FIH Professional Hockey League and won the matches 5-4 and 2-2 (4-3 SO).

Speaking about the match, team goalkeeper Krishan P Pathak said: “Our last encounter with Australia was a closely contested match and unfortunately, we ended up on the wrong side. We have identified areas that need improvement and are aware of what we need to do to turn the result in our favour. The time.

“Everyone on the team is in good shape. We played good hockey and are playing well as a team. It's a matter of controlling those important moments. We'll go out there and fight until the end,” he concluded.