Bhubaneswar, May 3
Displaying a rusty defence, the Indian men’s hockey team played out a 1-1 draw against Japan to begin its four-match Test series on a disappointing note here today.

For India, drag-flicker V R Raghunath converted a penalty corner in the 44th minute to get even after Japan drew first blood in the second quarter.

After a couple of unsuccessful penalty corner attempts by both the teams, Japan struck in the 19th minute.

Japanese striker Kurogawa Daichi received a hard cross in the D and quickly tucked it into the goal as the visitors took the lead. Attacks and counter-attacks continued in the second and the third quarters as India finally broke even in the third quarter.

Gurbaj earned India a penalty corner and Raghunath clinically converted it into a goal. Sardar Singh pushed the ball in hard and Raghunath fired it to the left of the Japanese goalkeeper and the ball ticked a defender’s stick en route to the net.

The Paul Van Ass-coached side got another corner in the 52nd minute but Raghunath failed to get lucky this time around and the scoreline stayed static in the remaining minutes of play.

Birendra Lakra and Kothajit Singh completed 100 international appearances.