AFC Asian Cup: India 4 -1 Thailand, 5 takeaways from the game

#2 Solid centre-back pairing but poor set-piece defending

Constantine named the usual centreback partnership of Anas Edathodika and Sandesh Jhingan. I was personally pessimistic about this selection as Anas has had an average season so far and not found his form after suffering an injury setback in 2018. But the pairing of him alongside Jinghan is no rarity. The two have been the centre-backs of the Indian national team for a long time now and also play together for Kerala Blasters in the Hero Indian Super League. But dealing with the familiar domestic opponents is different from facing the top footballing nations around Asia.

Thailand has the technical ability to counter in seconds and punish any side quickly. They can play amazingly threaded through balls or just dribble their way into the final third. But Anas and Sandesh had something else in store for the War Elephants. They didn't allow any attack in the second half and were quick to deal with any threat offered by Thailand. With numerous tackles throughout the game, the duo ensured Thailand stayed out of the game once they secured a lead in the game. An impressive 6 recoveries, 3 interceptions and 3 defensive blocks from the two capped off their amazing performance.

While the centre back pairing looked superb during open play, they struggled to defend set pieces. Thailand got their only goal of a free kick which was taken cleverly. The Thailand attackers simply ran into the 6-yard box faster than the Indian defenders and were, therefore, able to score. This was a clear example that showed India haven't practised defending set pieces enough and can get punished for it. While Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has come out many a time to get a glove on the ball, it can also go horribly wrong as we saw one of the free kicks rebound of Sandhu and ricochet onto Anas only to go just wide of the goal. India will surely have to improve this aspect of the game if they hope to qualify for the round of 16.