Indian mens hockey team ended their tour of Australia on a humiliating note as they lost the last match 2-3 and the five-match series 0-5 against Australia at Perth Hockey Stadium in Perth today. After taking an early lead, India conceded three goals in less than 20 minutes to let the home team win the match and make a clean sweep of the bilateral series. Earlier, Australia won the first four games 5-1, 4-2, 2-1 and 3-1.

Odisha defender Amit Rohidas was part of the 27-member Indian team, which was led by ace drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh with midfielder Hardik Singh as his deputy. The series was expected to be a litmus test for the Indian team in their preparations for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Chief Coach Craig Fulton had opted to go with the almost entire core group in order to give players optimum chance to showcase their potential before the final 16-member team is selected for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. But the series turned out to be nightmare for India.

India, the bronze medallist in Tokyo, are in the same group as Australia for the Paris Olympics along with Belgium, New Zealand, Argentina and Ireland. Indians are scheduled to open their campaign against New Zealand on July 27 before taking on Argentina on July 29. India will play their third match against Ireland on July 30, fourth against Belgium on August 1 and the final group game against Australia on August 2.

INDIAN MENS TEAM: Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh, Suraj Karkera. Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh (Captain), Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, Sumit, Amir Ali. Mid-fielders: Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh (Vice-Captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Vishnukant Singh. Forwards: Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mohammed Raheel Mouseen, Boby Singh Dhami, Araijeet Singh Hundal.

RESULTS:

6 April 2024 (Match 1): India (Gurjant Singh 47-FG) lost to Australia (Tim Brand 3-FG, Tom Wickham 20-FG, 38-FG, Joel Rintala 37-FG, Flynn Ogilvie 57-PC) 1-5.

7 April 2024 (Match 2): India (Yugraj Singh 9-PC, Harmanpreet Singh 30-PC) lost to Australia (Jeremy Hayward 6-PC, 34-PC, Jacob Anderson 42-FG, Nathan Ephraums 45-FG) 2-4.

10 April 2024 (Match 3): India (Gurjant Singh 41-PC) lost to Australia (Jeremy Hayward 44-PS, 49-PC) 1-2.

12 April 2024 (Match 4): India (Harmanpreet Singh 12-PC) lost to Australia (Jeremy Hayward 19-PC, 47-PC, Jack Welch 54-PC) 1-3.

13 April 2024 (Match 5): India (Harmanpreet Singh 4-PC, Boby Singh Dhami 53-FG) lost to Australia (Jeremy Hayward 20-PC, Ky Willott 38-FG, Tim Brand 39-FG) 2-3.