ERROL D’CRUZ

India stretched their unbeaten streak at the Birsa Munda stadium with a 6-3 victory over World champions Germany on Monday, making it three wins in a row in the FIH Pro League mini tournament in Rourkela. The comprehensive win took India to the top of the nine-nation table, level on 17 points with Spain, but with a 29-21 goal record as opposed to 20-14.

India, who played their seventh match of the league, however, have played a match fewer than Spain. Germany, on 11 points from seven matches, are fourth and take on Australia in eighth place with four points from six matches.

The resounding score-line follows a 3-2 win in the first match on Friday against the formidable Europeans and a 5-4 verdict over Australia on Sunday.

Karthi Selvam (23’, 45’), Abhishek (22,51’), Jugraj Singh (20’) and Harmanpreet Singh (25’, PC) were on target for India. Germany scored through Tom Grambusch (2’, PC), Gonzalo Peillat (22’, PC) and Malte Hellwig (31’).

Karthi’s brace followed a superlative goal against Australia and it duly brought the 21-year-old the player-of-the-match award.

Another reason to rejoice for the hosts, still fighting to erase the memories of a dismal World Cup campaign, was captain Harmanpreet’s return to form. His thunderous drag-flick found the boards in successive matches and it consolidated his position atop the scorers’ charts with a tally of 11.

India paraded their wares in attack despite the absence of key midfielder Hardik Singh because of illness. Germany, however, will rue an insipid performance in defence – traditionally a strength that creates a platform for ascendancy.

True, they came to Rourkela without some of their key players but the inexplicable resting of captain Mats Grambusch for the encounter clearly affected cohesion and composure.

For all that, the three-time World Cup champions and four-time Olympic gold medallists shot ahead early in the match when Tom Grambusch fired past the outstretched left leg of Rajbhar Pawan to put the Germans ahead with his 35^th international goal in his 91^st international appearance.

The goal punished India’s prodigality just moments earlier when Sukhjeet Singh failed to score from Gurjant’s telling cross from the left.

India is all over Germany at Rourkela.                                                                            Photos by Shamim Qureshy    

India, roared on by a passionate crowd, should have equalized early in the second quarter but Karthi and Gurjant failed to do justice to Sumit’s cross from the left after handling a long aerial superbly.

But 1-1 it was, thanks to Jugraj, a drag-flicking option, whose grounder dumbfounded Alexander Stadler in goal. Within a minute it was 2-1 for the hosts when Abhishek sizzled with a back-hander after the German defence was undone by a long overhead.

A third goal followed in as many minutes, this time at the other end, when former Argentine star Gonzalo Peillat beat goalkeeper PR Sreejesh to his left with a drag-flick from a penalty corner to make it 2-2.

The thrills continued with another goal the very next minute. Sukhjeet turned Tom Grambusch inside out, then laid a subtle cross for Karthi to touch home past Stadler.

Another India’s fluent goal over world champions Germany at Rourkela.                      Photo by Shamim Qureshy

Barely 60 seconds elapsed when the crowd was sent into raptures again, this time Harmanpreet doing the honours with an angular drag-flick that went between Stadler and postman Teo Hinrich.

Sreejesh ensured India crossed over with a two-goal cushion, denying Hinrich’s essay on the run.

A touch of class kept Germany in it at the outset of the second half – Hellwig finishing a flowing move on the left flank with a diving effort to beat Pawan.

The goal came as tonic for a German team that attempted to capitalize on the momentum and a flurry of penalty corners ensued but to no avail. It could have been even stevens in the 41^st minute but Michel Struthoff blasted well over the bar after Pawan padded away Hinrich’s rasping attempt.

Into the fourth quarter then, with the contest wide open. Karthi, however, took the match away from Germany with his second goal after Tom Grambusch failed to block Jarmanpreet’s fine diagonal cross.It was then Abhishek’s turn to score a brace with gentle back-hander to make it 6-3 after Sukhjeet laid the ball unselfishly from Dilpreet’s cross from the right-hand side.

The rattled and tiring Germans attempted to reduce the margin with a series of penalty corners to take their tally to seven, versus four of India, but the score-line remained unchanged.