India draw with Argentina, clinch hockey Test series

Buenos Aires, Dec 14 (PTI) In-form skipper Diwakar Prasad scored a brace as India rallied to draw 4-4 with Argentina in their final Under-21 hockey Test to clinch the series 1-0 at Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires here.

Apart from Diwakar, Danish Mujtaba and Jay Karan
accounted for one goal each to help the team, which trailed
1-3 at half-time, draw parity yesterday. India won the first
match, while the remaining three ended level.

The visitors, who beat Holland on Friday, started briskly
with good ball rotation and overlaps and the midfielders and
forwards moving in tandem.

Their fluency was, however, checked by Argentina
goalkeeper Federico Bermejillo as he blocked the initial
attempts of Jay Karan and Pramod Kumar.

The visitors earned their first penalty corner in the
seventh minute after an obstruction by Argentine defender Juan
Manuel Pacheco.

Diwakar Ram unleashed his trademark low drag-flick which
was latched on to by Danish Mujtaba on the rebound. The nippy
Allahabad striker drew first blood to the delight of the
Indian supporters.

Argentina immediately went into the offensive from their
left flank and found the equaliser through a perfect
deflection by Lucas Colombo in the 13th minute.

The hosts mounted pressure as Indian defenders Diwakar
and Innocent Kullu committed unforced errors. In another
sortie from the left they took the lead when unmarked Juan
Cruz Agulleiro fired a rasping reverse past goalkeeper Mrinal
Chaubey in the 18th minute.

India were unable to thwart the Argentina attacks and
looked out of sorts as their rivals penetrated with
regularity.

Agulleriro was again on target 10 minutes later, this
time diving to a measured centre past the hapless Chaubey as
Argentina took a convincing 3-1 lead at the crossover.

However, India showed a rare fightback in the second half
as they not only wiped off the deficit but went into the lead.

Their fluency and flair resurfaced as they accelerated,
orchestrating sparkling maneuvers in the Argentine 23-meter
area. India were awarded their second penalty corner after the
ball struck the foot of Felipe Oleastro.

Diwakar made no mistake in the 39th minute to reduce the
margin. India continued to dominate but the third goal eluded
them as custodian Bermejillo foiled attempts of Mandip Antil,
Mujtaba and Jay Karan.

The Indian captain again added his name to the scorers
sheet in the 59th minute from a penalty corner to make it 3-3.

As the match entered the final 10 minutes, both the teams
threw caution to the winds and robust tackles held
centrestage.

Argentina went on the offensive, but Belsajar Horo's
interception resulted in a turnover which was executed by Jay
Karan to perfection to give India a 4-3 lead in the 61st
minute.

India should have increased their tally shortly after
that but Antil preferred to push to the goalkeeper's pads
rather than pass to unmarked Jay Karan in the middle of the
circle.

Stung by this reversal Argentina looked for the equaliser
and succeeded in getting a penalty corner hotly protested by
India and also resulting with a yellow card for first rusher
Manjeet Kullu.

Argentina captain Martin Gebhardt converted it with
seconds on the clock. Indian coach AK Bansal said he was happy
with the overall showing of his wards as they remained
unbeaten on the tour.

"This quality exposure against top international teams
was extremely beneficial in the build up for the Junior World
Cup in Singapore and Malaysia next year," he said.

He further stated that they would try to rectify the
errors in their next tournament in Australia in January. PTI