India vs Bangladesh: 5 Talking Points as Adil Khan's goal spares Blue Tigers' blushes in 1-1 draw | 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

#4 Bangladesh defenders give India a harrowing run for money

Bangladesh defenders worked their tactics to perfection

Bangladesh knew that if they wanted to get something out of this game, they had to maintain their defensive shape for the full ninety minutes. Their doggedness was visible right from the opening whistle as India had no clue how to get past their shape.

When not in possession, Bangladesh played in a 4-3-2-1 formation when India had the ball in their own half. It slowly got transformed into a 4-5-1 when India had it in the middle of the park. Five midfielders in a single line, with three of them in the centre, meant India had no chance to squeeze their way through the centre.

So, they either played route-one football or went through the wings. When Bangladesh saw the ball was with Udanta Singh or Ashique Kuruniyan, in the wings, they changed their formation again to 5-4-1. Two defenders marked the wingers and they succumbed to the pressure in most of the occasions.

Bangladesh didn't press high or committed too many bodies forward while surging ahead. Their back-line didn't drop too deep either.

They even committed a lot of advanced fouls high up on the pitch to ensure India could never play the free-flowing type of football which they wanted. The rhythm was always a start-stop-start-stop whenever India had the ball in their possession.

Their time-wasting tactic while taking long throws or corner-kicks drew the ire of almost every Indian player on the pitch, including head coach Igor Stimac's that saw him get a warning from the official.