New Delhi, July 4 -- On 9 June in Amsterdam, when India took on the Netherlands in their second match of the European leg of the FIH Pro League, there was little indication of what was to come. India were third on the league standings after a round of home matches, a renaissance squad that had won back-to-back Olympic bronze medals to revive a sport that once defined the country but had long been on terminal support, and on the day, against the No.1 ranked Olympic champion team, it was India that started brighter, faster, and in attack mode. India had lost narrowly to the Netherlands in their opening game of the European leg just two days back, and looked like they were out to even things out.

As a just reward, India opened the scoring w...