Harmanjot Singh Khabra - Chennaiyin FC's midfield engine

Strong On and Off the Ball

Off the ball, his tactical awareness is spot on and is always improving. One can always see Khabra hounding the opposition midfield, looking for the first opportunity to win possession back and set Chennaiyin’s attacks off.

And he gets forward a fair bit as well, always providing an outlet for a team-mate put under pressure by the opposition. On the ball, he is immensely calm, a non-negotiable virtue to have for a central midfielder.

His vision is one of his assets. The early ball to John Stiven Mendoza has been one of Chennaiyin’s best outlets in an attack, and Khabra has picked that pass to perfection time and again.

And his Italian manager is well pleased with what he has seen from the East Bengal man. Materazzi said, “Khabra is a very important player for us. And I’m sure he would be a very important player for many Italian teams as well.”

But Khabra is not getting complacent. As he said, “Obviously, getting praised by Marco is huge for me. But it doesn’t mean anything if I don’t keep working hard.”

The national team is obviously a glaring target, and Khabra wants to tie up a spot in Stephen Constantine’s team. “I have been in many national teams and camps before, but there have not been too many opportunities to play. My target is to play for India regularly.”

Room for Improvement

But there are some screws in his game that need to be tightened. Sometimes, it looks as though desperation gets to him. A strong case in point would be from Chennaiyin’s game against FC Goa, earlier this month – one that the Gaurs went on to win 2-0.

With only a few minutes left on the clock and Chennaiyin needing two goals to salvage at least a point, Khabra flew in with his studs up, to catch Leo Moura on the shin. A tackle for which a red card was immediately brandished. Maybe it was something that happened in the heat of the moment, but tackles like those are unacceptable in football.

There is also a case that Khabra’s temperament and composure are the bedrocks on which his game is built. He has shown ample evidence of that with his calmness in possession, and his general defensive awareness. So maybe, the incident with Moura can be classified as a one-off where he just let the game into his head a bit too much.

But, one thing that cannot be debated is Khabra’s importance to Chennaiyin. This season, Materazzi’s men have played three games without Khabra and they’ve got only four points from those games.

Being an Indian player playing in a crucial position, Khabra lends crucial balance to Chennaiyin. He allows Materazzi to play his best foreigner, and not compromise on quality.

There are three games to go this season, and in all probability, Chennaiyin will have to win all three to qualify, but Khabra is quietly confident. “We’re a good side, and if we play as well as we can, we can beat any team.”

It will be difficult, and one cannot really put it past Chennaiyin, especially if players like Khabra find their groove in all three games.