Rawalpindi: India fought back from 0-3 down to hold arch-rivals Pakistan to a creditable 3-3 draw in the sixth and last Test of the bilateral hockey series at the Army Hockey Stadium on Sunday.
By holding the Pakistanis in this match, India managed to win the second leg 1-0 and thereby narrow down their series loss to 3-1.
After bowing down to the superior skills and better team work of the Pakistani side in the first half, India rallied in the second, striking well in time to notch a draw.
Sandeep Singh (54th), Shivinder Singh (61st) and Vikram Pillay (62nd) scored the goals for the visitors after they were nearly outplayed by Pakistan through Tariq Aziz (4th), Mohammed Saqlain (27th) and Shabbir Hussain (43rd) goals.
Pakistan played with a purpose and displayed smart hockey to a take a 2-0 lead in the first half.
Their planning and alertness paid immediate dividends as they took lead in the fourth minute through a Tariq Aziz blitzkrieg.
From the left, Dilawar Hussein's powerful hit from outside the circle rebounded off Harpal Singh's stick while the latter was trying to stop it inside the striking circle.
Alert as ever, a swift Tariq Aziz latched on to the opportunity to strike a cracking shot into the net, to leave the Indians stunned.
The visitors were again found wanting in converting opportunities into goals.
Both Sardara Singh and Didar Singh showed poor striking abilities as they were at a loss despite getting a good chance each inside the D, taking ages to put the ball in.
On another occasion, an Ignace Tirkey move also could not find the right kind of finish it deserved.
In contrast, Pakistan captain Mohammed Saqlain exhibited another classic example of opportunism, when he dived forward to put the ball, which went off VS Vinay's stick on the goal mouth while checking a Muddasar Ali Khan's hit, past the Indian goalie.
India got two penalty corners in the first half but Pakistani custodian Salman Akbar thwarted the attemps.
In the second half, Pakistan continued with their attacking spree as Shabbir Hussain extended the lead in the 43rd minute through a field goal.
However, the Indians kept their cool and got the first breakthrough in the 54th minute.
Sandeep Singh dodged the rival keeper through a ground shot while the latter was expecting an ariel one.
This pepped up the visitors who maintained their pace in attack resulting in the second goal by Shivinder Singh in the 61st minute.
In the same flow, the equaliser came for India a minute later. Tejbir Singh provided a beauty of a pass to Vikram Pillay inside the D and from the left the midfielder hit a spectacular goal from zero angle to bring broad smiles on the Indians' faces.
Pakistan brought in Nasir Ahmed as a replacement for Akbar. But that was only a desperate and defensive move just to prevent the Indians from walking away with a win.
India, who lost all the three matches in the first leg, won one and drew two in the second.
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