India beat Germany 5-3 in the second match of the bilateral series to bounce back from Wednesday's 2-0 loss, but eventually lost a shootout to lose the series trophy to the visitors.
It was an all-too-familiar story for India at the start of the game, though. They were the better side in the opening exchanges. They were making the running, they had the circle entries, they had a couple of shots, but an excellent counter-attack meant that Elian Mazkour socred the opening goal int he seventh minute to put India behind.
They struggled to convert penalty corners on Wednesday, and that pattern continued on Thusday as well, as India missed the first seven penalty corners that they earned in this game too. That meant Germany went into half-time with a 1-0 lead, but India didn't have to wait too long after the break for the equaliser, as Shilanand Lakra found Sukhjeet in the circle, with an empty net waiting for the ball to be tapped into it .
When the penalty corner troubles were coming to a head, India's captain stepped up and scored two in quick succession to put India in complete control of the game. Soon after, Abhishek added a fourth with a fierce strike from close range that flew past Jean-Paul Danneberg in the German goal even before he could react.
Sukhjeet put India in a further brilliant position, with a neatly taken goal to put the hosts 5-1 up. Mazkour added another and then they scored again in the last minute of the match to add a touch of respectabiltiy to the scoreline.
The shootout itself saw Harmanpreet, Mohammed Raheel and Abhishek miss for India, while Aditya Lalage scored the only goal in the 3-1 shootout loss. Abhishek's miss came under controversial circumstances. Abhishek had put the ball in the back of the net, and the umpires allowed the goal to stand. Germany referred saying the ball had crossed the net beyond the stipulated eight seconds. The TV Umpire said no advice was possible due to technical issues. That should have meant that India's goal should have stood, while Germany kept their referral. Instead, the on-field umpire still overturned his decision.
Youngsters impress
Lalage, who scored in the shootout, was excellent throughout the game as well, on his India debut. He didn't quite manage a goal or an assist in the game, but he caught the eye with his speed, his stickwork and his ability to get in dangerous positions throughout the game. He was only denied a goal on debut by a superb Danneberg save in the second half, but the lack of that goal shouldn't take away from an impressive debut.
Vishnukant Singh and Shilanand Lakra were also impressive, with the latter even getting an assist for Sukhjeet's first goal. Vishnukant's long strides and ability to drive forward from midfield were also integral in India's improvement in the second half. After Rajinder's debut on Wednesday, the fact that these youngsters stepped up to the occasion at the senior level is an encouraging sign for Fulton.
If not Harmanpreet, then who?
By the 40th minute in this match, India had missed seven penalty corners already, following missing seven more on Wednesday. They tried variations that didn't work, but also didn't have Harmanpreet Singh on the pitch for four of the first seven penalty corners they won. He was on the field for numbers 8 and 9, and duly delivered with unerring, powerful strikes into the net, to give India a cushion in the lead.
Before that, though, India made all kinds of errors possible from the penalty corners they had. The trapping was poor sometimes, the drag was poor sometimes, the flicks lakced power on other times. That is one serious area of improvement to look at if this team is to take the next step and be a consistent top side which wants to vie for the top prize at the 2026 World Cup. Harmanpreet is brilliant - one of the best dragflickers ever - but the best teams need more than just one dragflicker to be consistently successful in big tournaments.
You can relive the match as it happened in our live blog below: