Bilateral hockey tours are often seen as an opportunity to conduct experiments, try different variations, and blooding in youngsters. The first Test of a two-match series between India and Germany was no different as hockey returned to Delhi after a decade.
Germany prevailed 2-0 thanks to a goal each in the first two quarters and took a 1-0 lead at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.
Germany went on the offensive from the word go and the result was Henrik Mertgens punishing India for a lapse in defense and flick one past Krishan Pathak to give the world champions an early lead in the fourth minute. India were forced to be compact in their defense with the Germans pressing ad nauseam. India then won the first of their seven penalty corners in the first quarter but with captain Harmanpreet Singh not on the turf, the responsibility fell to Varun Kumar’s shoulders but he couldn’t convert even on the rebound.
India needed to recalibrate in the second quarter and they won as many as four penalty corners but surprisingly, not one was converted with even Harmanpreet, who converted both of India’s PC in the bronze medal match of the Paris Olympics against Spain, appearing off-colour. Germans were resolute in their defense keeping Indians at bay and at times frustrated.
While India certainly came out all guns blazing in the second quarter, it was the Germans who had the last laugh with captain Lukas Windfeder converting a penalty corner in the 30th minute with Suraj Karkera managing to block the ball before it bounced inside the goalpost.
Before that, India were presented with another golden opportunity to draw level when a video referral resulted in the hosts winning a penalty stroke. Harmanpreet surprisingly failed to score with Jean-Paul Danneberg falling to his right but managing to block the shot with his pad.
The third quarter saw India win two more PCs even as their repeated attempt at field goals came a cropper. This German team is without five of their players that won the silver medal at the Paris Olympic and despite that, they managed to stave off the Indians who were also without a few of their first-choice stars.
India’s return to the iconic venue may not have been a happy one but they sure will hope to give their fans something to cheer for who filled the stands in decent numbers braving the Delhi heat when the two teams return to the venue in less than 24 hours for the second and final match of the series.
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