Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal suffered a defeat but Indian men came from behind to beat Iran 3-1 in the first match of the second round in the World Table Tennis Team Championships in Moscow on Thursday.
Indian men started on a dismal note with their spearhead world number 70, Sharath going down 2-3 to A Mohammadreza in the first tie of the match.
Former national champion Subhajit Saha, however, came to India's rescue and beat Noshad Alamiyan 3-1 to equalise the overall score and Soumyadeep Roy then got the better of Afshin Noroozi with an identical scoreline.
Sharath then recaptured his form to spank Alamiyan 3-0 in the fourth tie and clinched the issue.
India now play Serbia in the next match of the second round on Friday.
Meanwhile, Indian eves got a bye in the second round and now face Israel, who thrashed Indonesia 3-0, on Friday.
Both the Indian men's and women's teams are competing in the second division of the prestigious tournament.