The game in Buenos Aires was the Indian men's first for 14 months, while Argentina were seeking to bounce back from two defeats versus Germany last weekend.

The visitors took the lead on 21 minutes despite being down to 10 players at the time, as Harmanpreet Singh converted from a short corner.

Argentina responded admirably and Martin Ferreiro scored twice in the space of two minutes to give them a 2-1 lead at the interval.

Ferreiro thought he had completed his hat-trick in the closing minute, but the goal was overturned after India reviewed, and that would prove decisive as they promptly went up the other end to score.

India won back-to-back short corners and Harmanpreet converted the second with just six seconds left on the clock to take the game to a shootout.

Both Harmanpreet and Ferreiro were unsuccessful in the shootout, which mimicked regular time as it saw India stage an improbably comeback.

Argentina went 2-0 up, but failed to convert their next three chances and that opened the door for India, who won thanks to Lalit Upadhyay, Rupinder Singh and Dilpreet Singh all scoring.

India now have 12 points from seven games and are fifth in the Pro League standings - a point and a place better off than Los Leones.

The teams are due to play again at the National Center of High Performance Athletics tomorrow.