India lost 2-3 to Australia as they succumbed to a sixth straight loss in the FIH Pro League 2024-25 season campaign.
In Antwerp, on Sunday, India were thoroughly outplayed for vast swathes of the game as we saw glimpses of what this new Australia combination can do – with some of the old stardust thrown in. The first minute of the match forced a save from Krishan Pathak in the India goal, but it was India who took the lead in the third after Jugraj Singh’s powerful penalty corner dragflick was deflected into the path of Sanjay, who took a touch and drilled it home.
Australia, though, came back with two goals in two minutes. First Tim Brand seized on a deflection and placed a deft chip over the hapless Pathak to equalise in the fourth minute. Fifty seconds later, Blake Govers (returning to the Australia team after a while out) controlled a fizzing pass into the D with a lovely touch that saw the ball bounce up, and on the turn blootered a hit past Pathak before the goalkeeper knew what was happening.
That set the tone for the opening two quarters as Australia pressed high with an incessant intensity that India could barely live with. The pressure told early in the second quarter when Cooper Burns smacked a penalty corner flick off a deflection to make it 3. India barely got a touch of the ball in that first half after Sanjay’s goal.
India started much stronger in the second half and got a goal back in the third quarter. Good work from Jarmanpreet and Abhishek (whose stick work won the PC for Sanjay’s goal too) saw space open in the box, before the latter’s reverse flick was deflected superbly in by Dilpreet. It was a poacher’s finish that lifted the India team.
In quarter 4, though, Australia kept India at arm’s length with ease. Managing the game brilliantly, they kept the play in the India half and forced multiple superb stops from Krishan Pathak. In fact, it was the goalkeeper’s brilliance in this quarter that kept the margin down to just one.
At the end of the game, Australia captain Jeremy Hayward gifted Manpreet an Australia jersey signed by the team and the two teams gave him a guard of honour to commemorate his 400th cap for the India team. He’s only the third player in the modern era to wear India blue 400 (or more) times.
The result, though, was another disappointing one for India. Their six straight losses (all, coincidentally, by one goal margins) mean they drop to sixth in the Pro League table while Australia rise to 4th after their two back-to-back wins over India.
India next play Belgium twice to close out the season, on June 21 and June 22. Stay tuned to espn.in for live coverage from those games.
Meanwhile, you can relive all the action from the Australia game right here on our live blog:
