India played well to hold Germany to a 3-3 draw in their last league match but it was not enough to give them the title in the DSD four-nation hockey tournament in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Sunday.
The hosts won the tournament on superior goal difference.
Despite finishing second, India had a good outing in the tournament where they did not lose a single match. They won 2-0 against Great Britain and 5-0 against France.
Germany won the title having beaten France 6-0 and Great Britain 3-1 on Saturday.
Before the match, the four-team event, played on a round-robin format, had Germany and India as joint leaders, both being the unbeaten teams with six points each.
However, Germany were ahead on a goal difference of plus eight while India were plus seven.
Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh and Gagan Ajit Singh scored for the Indians, who were leading 2-1 at half-time.
Germany scored through Christoph Bechmann and Christopher Zeller (two goals).