The Indian men's hockey team kicked off their Champions Trophy campaign with a hard-fought 3-3 draw over defending champions Germany in London on Friday.

VK Raghunath, brought back to the team after being rested, kicked off the scoring for India from a penalty corner in the seventh minute. Germany equalised through Tom Grambusch via a penalty corner in the 26th minute. But India were unfazed and Mandeep Singh got India the lead again through a field goal immediately. Harmanpreet Singh scored another six minutes later to give India 3-1 lead.

But Germany proved equal to the challenge of a two-goal deficit. First, Grambusch took advantage of another penalty corner to make it 3-2. Then with just three minutes left on the clock, India conceded a late penalty stroke. Jonas Gomoll made no mistake as the game finished 3-3.