Indian Football: Igor Stimac's depleted side eyes for a positive start against Bahrain

After five long months, Indian National Football Team are finally back in action. The Blue Tigers will face a familiar foe in the form of Bahrain, tomorrow at the Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa, Bahrain. The friendly will serve as a preparation for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers for both sides.

Match Details

Match: Bahrain (89) vs India (104) (International Friendly)

Venue: Bahrain National Stadium, Riffa

Date: 23rd March

Time: 9:30 PM IST

Head to Head

Indian Football Team have featured in six encounters against their upcoming opponents, Bahrain. The Blue Tigers don't possess a good record against Bahrain and are yet to win a single match against them. They have only managed to draw a single match while Bahrain won the rest of the five matches.

In the last match between the two teams, Bahrain came out victorious against the Indian team with a late penalty at the AFC Asian Cup 2019. Eventually, this loss knocked India out of the tournament.

Current Form

Since the loss against Asian Champions Qatar, India are unbeaten in the last nine matches and will be hoping to extend the streak. Unlike India, Bahrain have played games this year. In their first game, they have defeated Uganda 3-1. Later they followed it up with a 1-0 over DR Congo.

Team News

The Indian team are currently missing a lot of key players due to various injuries. Indian National Team captain Sunil Chhetri, the midfield duo of Sahal Abdul Samad and Suresh Singh Wangjam are some notable names in the long list. Apart from them, India are also going to miss Goalkeeper Amrinder Singh, defender Chinglensana Singh and Akash Mishra and midfielders Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Aniket Yadav and Bipin Singh due to VISA issues.

With many key players missing, Igor Stimac will have a very tough job his hand. However, this will also serve as an opportunity for players like Roshan Naorem, VP Suhair, Ruivah Hormipam to show their calibre on the international stage. Bahrain, on the other hand, has a full-strength squad available and they will start as the favourites.

Probable Line-Up

Bahrain (4-3-3): Sayed Jaffar, Sayed Dhiya, Waleed Al Hayem, Sayed Bager, Sayed Issa, Mohammad AL Hardan, Abbas Al Asfoor, Kamil Al Aswad, Mohamed Marhoon, Mohamed Al-Romaini, Ali Madan.

India (4-2-3-1): Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Pritam Kotal, Ruivah Hormipam, Sandesh Jhingan, Naorem Roshan Singh, Pronay Halder, Jeakson Singh, Suhair VP, Yasir Mohammed, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh.

Telecast & Streaming Details

Unfortunately, the match will not be telecasted in India.