An imbalance in strike force
On September 3, 2013, during a match of the 10th SAFF Championship at Halchowk Stadium in Kathmandu, India’s prolific striker Sunil Chhetri robbed Bangladesh of a much-deserved win by curling a free-kick over the wall and past Bangladesh goalkeeper Mamun Khan to rescue India in stoppage time after having gone down 1-0 in the 82nd minute.
The following year, on March 6 at the Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Margao, Goa, it was Chhetri once more who denied Bangladesh in a FIFA friendly match by striking his second in the stoppage time to help India finish 2-2.
These two instances typify how Bangladesh have often been undone by India’s genuine strikers. Chhetri’s predecessor Bhaichung Bhutia also played a similar role to snatch wins from Bangladesh, netting five goals against the country in four matches, including the second goals in the finals of the 1999 and 2005 SAFF Championships, which Bangladesh lost by identical 2-0 margins. In the 2005 edition in Pakistan, under the guidance of Argentinian coach Diago Cruciani, Bangladesh played fantastic football throughout the tournament but had to be satisfied with a runners-up finish.
Apart from Bhutia and Chhetri, over the years India have also boasted forwards of high pedigree such as IM Vijayan, Bikash Panji, Krishanu Dey and others who have always held the edge over Bangladesh, as evidenced by a head-to-head where India have 12 wins and 10 draws against just three defeats. Bhutia, Vijayan and Chhetri have so far scored 10 goals between them out of the 32 India have struck against Bangladesh in 25 matches.
Striking power is the major area where Bangladesh lag behind their neighbours, and heading into today’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against 104th-ranked India, former Bangladesh internationals feared that the men in red and green will continue to be hounded by India’s attack. They however hoped that Bangladesh will fare better if they can replicate last Thursday’s performance at home against Asian champions Qatar, in which case they could return with at least a point to their name.
“India’s scoring capacity is better than ours; they convert half chances into full chances,” said former footballer Ashraf Uddin Ahmed Chunnu. “I still remember that we squandered a lot of scoring chances in the Asian Club Championship and paid the heavy price of losing. [Then] Indian coach PK Banerjee had said that India lagged behind Bangladesh in every aspect except goal-scoring, and that still holds true.”
Former defender Imtiaz Sultan Jonny said: “There were minor differences between Bangladesh and India and we fought against them neck and neck, but they won the match because of individual charisma. Besides, they had good preparation before international matches, which we lacked before.”
Former forward Elias Hossain believed Bangladesh made more mistakes than India and that the India forwards just capitalised on those mistakes, adding that Bangladesh forwards’ scoring capacity was not good.
“We wasted a lot of chances against India but they had some good forwards like Krishanu, Prosenjeet, Biwhwajit, Prosun who were ahead of Bangladeshi strikers and punished Bangladesh whenever the defenders made mistakes,” said Elias, who struck the lone goal against Thailand in the 1985 World Cup qualifiers in Dhaka.
Former defender and coach Saiful Bari Titu believed India had a physical edge.
Chhetri, the bogey man for Bangladesh in the last two meetings, understandably loomed large.
“If they mark me, I will be happy. If I am marked by three or four, then it will be 10 versus 6. Then we will have a numerical advantage. It is not only about me; it is about Bangladesh. It is never about me. I will love it if the team marks me because there are other players like Manvir Balwant, Udanta, Ashique who have been in better shape than me. Let’s see tomorrow [Tuesday],” said the 35-year-old Indian captain at the press conference yesterday.
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