Asian Cup 2019: Poor form of strikers does not paint a rosy picture for India

#2 Balwant Singh

With four wins, four draws, and four losses, ATK are currently placed at 12th position in the ISL table. Balwant Singh had his moments early on in the season but has looked lackluster thereafter.

The 32-year-old only has one goal from his 12 league matches and is yet to assist a goal. The Punjab-born player last scored a goal against Delhi Dynamos on 17 October 2018.

After a decent spell with Mumbai City FC last season, Balwant has been disappointing this time around.

The forward does not bring much to the plate on paper and it remains to be seen if he can make any significant contribution for the Blue Tigers in the Asian Cup.

#1 Sunil Chhetri

The Bengaluru FC skipper has five goals and an assist in the 11 games he has played for his team

Sunil Chhetri is the only forward in the Indian team who has played the full 90 minutes in each of the club matches this season.

The veteran forward is India's best bet when it comes to the attacking third and the team will be relying heavily on him to produce the goods.

The Bengaluru FC skipper has five goals and an assist in the 11 games he has played for his team. His last goal came against FC Goa on 22 November and Chhetri has failed to find the back of the net in the last five matches.

Even though The Blues are on top of the ISL table and are the only team yet to be defeated, Carles Cuadrat and his troops expect more from Chhetri. Such is the image Sunil has built for himself.

Yes, Sunil is the highest Indian goalscorer but his barren run of 5 matches is quite alarming.

Looking at the broad picture, the Blue Tigers have a lot to worry about ahead of the 2019 Asian Cup.

Once again, relying completely on Chhetri may not work for them. A team effort is required at a tournament of the level of the Asian Cup which features talented strikers like Yuya Osako of Japan and Matthew Leckie of Australia to name a few.