Indian hockey team leaves for London

The Indian men's hockey team left here for London on Friday to take part in a four-nation Olympic test event ahead of the 2012 Games.

The 18-member squad is captained by goalkeeper Bharat Chetri while midfielder Sardar Singh is his deputy.

The tournament will be played at Riverbank Arena, Olympic Park from May 2-6. Besides India and hosts Great Britain, the other participating teams are Australia and Germany.

India will open its campaign against Australia on May 2, followed by matches against Great Britain and Germany.

The tournament will be played on a blue artificial turf with yellow balls. The pitch has pink runways.