Though he said he was not angry, Craig Fulton must have said something at half-time that completely turned the game around. Like they did in the 0-2 loss to Germany on Wednesday, India looked listless. At half-time on Thursday, Germany led 1-0.
But India turned up after the break revitalised and hammered four goals in the third quarter. They added another in the final quarter to beat Germany 5-3 at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here in the second and final Test. Germany drew first blood in the seventh minute following a quickfire counter-attack.
Abhishek had made a circle entry from the left but his shot on goal was unsuccessful. This was when the Germans struck through Elian Mazkour. But to the delight of the 11,000-strong crowd, India emerged after half-time ready to fight.
While Sukhjeet Singh (34th, 48th) drew parity immediately in the third quarter, it was India skipper Harmanpreet Singh (42nd, 43rd) who gave the hosts the lead. Shilanand Lakra’s backhand pass to Sukhjeet inside the circle was brilliantly deflected for the equaliser. The goal gave India the momentum they were looking for as Harmanpreet found success through successive penalty corners.
A post shared by FanCode (@fancode) Like in the first Test, Harmanpreet was giving other India penalty corner (PC) specialists opportunity to sound the boards but they – Sanjay, Amit Rohidas, Nilam Sanjeep Xess – failed with none of the variations working. Harmanpreet then decided to take it upon himself to s.