A four-nation tournament, involving Pakistan, Australia, Malaysia and India, is being planned in Chennai in September, ahead of the December 10 to 18 Champions Trophy.

Indian Hockey Federation secretary K Jothikumaran said it would be the perfect platform for India's preparations for the Champions Trophy.

The tournament will be played on the newly-laid FIH global quality approved tight-tufted synthetic turf, on which the just-concluded Murugappa tournament was played.

"All participating teams in the Champions Trophy always want to play a tournament at the venue which hosts the Champions Trophy, but as of now these three teams are said to be available during the third week of September,' Jothikumaran said.

Work on floodlighting at the ground is in progress and expected to be completed by the end of June.

Olympic champions Australia, Germany [Images], Holland, Pakistan, Spain and India will battle it out for the Champions Trophy.

"Plans to have the four-nation tournament are already afoot and the Murugappa Group of Companies has expressed their desire to sponsor the event," Jothikumaran said.

He did not discount the possibility of inviting Germany or the Netherlands.

"If these teams are also available, they also could be included for the four-nation tournament or it could be extended to a six-nation one," he added.

The Indian team, in the run-up to the Champions Trophy, will play in Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur (May 26 to June 5) and an eight-nation tournament (August 14 to 21 in the Netherlands) involving Australia, England [Images], Spain, Germany, India, Korea, Pakistan and the Netherlands.

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