Harmanpreet Singh scored a penalty stroke in the final play of India's match against Spain in the FIH Pro League to cap a remarkable 20 minute stretch of the game as India came back from 1-4 down to win 5-4.
It's a scoreline that probably flatters India. They were outworked for long stretches of the game by a Spanish side ranked eighth. With a quarter and five minutes to go, it had the looks of a thrashing. Yet, in the space of 19 minutes and 52 seconds India turned it around.
A defensive error a minute after Spain's final goal opened the floodgates. Shilanand Lakra reduced the gap to 4-2. Another minute later a penalty corner taken by Harmanpreet Singh was tapped in by Shamsher Singh. Then, with the wind behind them and five minutes to go, another PC. With Harmanpreet off the field, Varun Kumar stepped up to take his first PC of the game. He made no mistake.
As the clock ticked down, a draw seemed likely. And considering the score just a few minutes ago, even that would have been satisfactory for the home crowd in the Kalinga stadium. With just about 15 seconds to go, though, another loose ball resulted in an Indian counter. A desperate challenge to stop a goal bound striker, a penalty stroke, and the Indian comeback was done.
It was a passage of play that would probably give the team a lot of heart and remind them of what they were capable of. In recent times, India have been guilty of stretches of action in which they seemingly lost focus. The first two-thirds of this match against Spain had seemed to be the case. After India had appeared to take (and were subsequently denied) the lead through an early drag flick by Harmanpreet Singh, it had been the Spanish who ran the game. A two goal buffer built in the second quarter only boosted Spain's confidence even as India appeared to be getting frustrated.
As India slumped to a three goal deficit, though, it was as if a switch had turned. At the end of the first half, Graham Reid had summed up what his side needed to do. "'We need far more pressure on the ball and we need to play nearer their defensive lines," he had assessed.
Once India started putting pace on the ball, it seemed as if a different side - the one that had made history in Tokyo - had returned. They continually forced errors from their opponents that they hadn't made until this point. Once they got momentum on their side, there was no stopping them.
The usual caveats to India's performances remain. Spain are the third-lowest ranked side in the competition, and India had made heavy weather of what was expected to be among their easier matches, especially considering they had beaten them 3-0 at the Olympics. But it does serve as a gentle reminder -- once India play with purpose and pace, they are one of the most dangerous sides in world hockey.