Shoot-out agony! India earn first Pro League point after 2-2 draw vs Australia

The Indian men’s hockey team finally won their first point of this edition of Pro League as they earned a 2-2 draw against Australia in regulation time before the hosts grabbed the bonus point via a 5-4 win in the penalty shoot-out at Tasmania Hockey Centre in Hobart on Sunday.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!After five consecutive losses, it was for the first time that the Indian team impressed this year, and at one point it looked certain they would grab their maiden win of the season after Amit Rohidas (15th) and Jugraj Singh (43rd) put them 2-0 ahead. They showed intent, maintained structure, defended in numbers and cut down on the silly mistakes. Most importantly, for once they played like a team and went toe to toe with the Aussies for most of the first three quarters in heavy rain.But Australia, as expected, pulled things back in the final fifteen minutes after they won 12 penalty corners. India did their best to defend the set pieces, but Joel Rintala (47th, 56th) converted two of them to help the Aussies draw level.They could have added more if not for some brilliant goalkeeping by Mohith HS. On one occasion, he pulled off a double save that took everyone’s breath away. He first stopped the PC from Rintala on the left post before diving towards the right post to save Tim Brand’s shot from point-blank range.He couldn’t, however, continue his heroics in the penalty shoot-outs as the Aussies scored all their goals while Aditya Arjun Lalage missed India’s fifth shot with Jed Snowden getting a touch to it.Despite the result, there’s a lot of positives to take away for coach Craig Fulton, who has been understandably under fire after a terrible run so far. For starters, some of the youngsters like Lalage and Shilanand Lakra were indeed impressive.In the third quarter, Lakra made an unbelievable run from the centre towards the left of the D and took a reverse hit towards the goal even while falling. The ball went in, too, but was disallowed because of a back stick.Captain Hardik Singh also played like a true leader, efficiently leading his players on the field. Be it in defence or attack, he was there everywhere trying to make a difference.It was also good to see India’s PC conversions as they won two and scored on both the occasions. It was quite identical too as both Jugraj and Rohidas went for the left-bottom corner and scored.India will now get a break on Monday before they play Spain for the second time in the third match of the mini tournament on Tuesday.