The Indian men's hockey team failed to avoid a 0-5 series whitewash after going down 2-3 in the fifth Test against Australia, completing a nightmare of a tour in Perth on Saturday.
India were decimated 1-5 in the opening Test, while they lost the second and third Tests 2-4 and 1-2 respectively.
Tim Brand (3'), Tom Wickham (20', 38'), Joel Rintala (37'), and Flynn Ogilvie (57') were the goalscorers for the hosts, while Gurjant Singh (47') netted a solitary goal for India.
The five-game series offers India a chance to gauge their strengths and capabilities ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh got his mojo back as he scored a hat-trick, all from penalty corners, to lead India to a rare 5-4 win over Australia in a nine-goal thriller in the FIH Pro-League hockey in Rourkela on Sunday.
Two-time champions Netherlands clinched the bronze medal at the ongoing FIH Men's Hockey World Cup after defeating three-time champions Australia 3-1 in the third-place match
Star drag-flicker Gonzalo Peillat struck a second-half hat-trick as Germany made a sensational comeback after being two goals down to beat Australia 4-3 and enter the FIH Men's World Cup final for the fifth time on Friday
Australia have made it to the semifinals of the World Cup on 11 occasions since the 1978 tournament in Buenos Aires.
The seventh day of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 brought the conclusion of the group stage action from Pool A and Pool B, as Australia and Belgium topped their groups, booking their quarterfinals spots
Jeremy Hayward and Tom Craig scored a hat-trick each, first of the tournament, to hand Australia a convincing 8-0 win over France in a Pool A match of the FIH men's hockey World Cup on Friday
Ahead of his side's Men's Hockey World Cup campaign, Belgium skipper Felix Denayer said the toughest challenge is going to be Australia and India is a big challenge in home conditions
India won the World Cup once in 1975, and since then have failed to qualify for the semifinals. They won a bronze in the inaugural edition in 1971, clinched a silver in 1973.
India had lost 4-5 and 4-7 in the first two Tests before winning the next match 4-3 They lost the fourth game 1-5.
The final match of the series will be played on Sunday. India had won the third match after losing the first two contests
A fighting India scored a last minute goal to stun world number one side Australia 4-3 in the third hockey Test and notch up their first win in 13 years on Wednesday.
Blake Govers once became India's nemesis, slamming a hat-trick to lead Australia's 7-4 rout in a high-scoring second hockey Test of the five-match series on Sunday.
Akashdeep Singh's hat-trick went in vain as India conceded a last-minute goal to lose 4-5 to Australia in the high-scoring first hockey Test of the five-match serieson Saturday.
The team led by Harmanpreet Singh with Amit Rohidas being his deputy will look at the matches in Australia as a litmus test ahead of the FIH Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 in India.