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India began their quest for an eighth title at the SAFF Championships with a comfortable 2-0 win over Sri Lanka in their Group B opener in Dhaka. India have the youngest squad at this tournament, with only one player older than 23 in the setup.
The new-look team led by Subhasish Bose were in control of this match throughout. Though it may not reflect in the scoreline, the Indians weren't troubled much by their southern neighbours in this encounter and could have had more goals to their name with some better finishing.
The goals came from India's two wingers - Ashique Kuruniyan and Lallianzuala Chhangte.
Kuruniyan opened the scoring in the 34th minute after a lovely overhead pass enabled him to burst through behind the Lankan defence from the right flank and he rifled a low shot into the corner past the Sri Lankan custodian, his first ever senior goal in national colours.
The second came just a few minutes after the restart as the left winger, Chhangte, went to work, getting at the Sri Lankan defenders and with a touch of good fortune looping the ball over the head of Sujan Perera in goal.
It was a good first match to begin the tournament with, getting the three points needed.
Here are the main talking points from India's opening win.
#1 The starting XI
With most of the regulars back home, much of the intrigue lay in what team coach Stephen Constantine would pick for this first match. With a whole host of players, largely on level footing as far as talent goes, the competition for places in this squad is stiff.
Today, Constantine went with a standard 4-4-2 featuring Vishal Kaith in goal with captain Subhasish Bose leading a back four comprising himself and Sarthak Golui in the full-back positions and the duo of Salam Ranjan Singh and Mohamad Sajid as the centre-back pairing.
In front of them, Chennaiyin FC duo Germanpreet Singh and Anirudh Thapa ran the engine room flanked by Kuruniyan and Chhangte on the wings. The squad's oldest player, Sumeet Passi, got the nod to play forward alongside Farukh Ahmed.
Nikhil Poojary, Manvir Singh and Vinit Rai got game time off the bench.
#2 The name is Chhangte
It was at the previous SAFF Championships that Lallianzuala Chhangte really announced his arrival with those two excellent goals in India's 4-1 win over Nepal, just his second international game.
Since then, every time he's taken to the pitch, be it in national colours or for his club, he looks more likely to live up to the billing of 'the next big thing in Indian football.'
Today was no different. He was a handful for the Sri Lankan defenders who really had their task cut out for them. Be it his steadfast dribble, ability to cut in from the flanks or crossing, we got to witness the full range of skills.
His goal definitely did have an element of good fortune to it. Running at the Lankan right-back, Chhangte it definitely looked like he was aiming for a cross into the box. But the power and loop on it took it well past the box, looping into the far top corner over the head of the Lankan keeper.
He'll take it though as reward for his overall contributions as he once again looked the best player on the pitch, midfielder Anirudh Thapa giving him close competition on that front.
#3 No red card
There was a bit of physicality in this match from the Sri Lankans especially in the first half. Their approach seemed to be to not give the Indians time on the ball.
Yet in their efforts to hurry the Indian players and let them know that they weren't going to go down without a fight, some of the tackles were downright dangerous.
One of these transgressions was particularly nasty and could have, rightfully should have seen the Sri Lankan player receive his marching orders for what was an atrociously shocking tackle.
In the 28th minute, India midfielder Anirudh Thapa was hacked down from behind by Lanka's Asikur Rahman. To put it bluntly, it was less a tackle and more a careless two-footed lunge from behind into Thapa that left the Indian midfielder a bit dazed as he crumbled to the ground.
Rahman was shown a yellow, but a different coloured card should have been produced here.
#4 Can you find the back of the net?
This tweet from the national team's handle sums this game up quite succinctly.
It was quite the shocker that this game finished 2-0 for in truth India should have scored a minimum of five goals at least in this encounter.
The finishing was the biggest disappointment in this game with some of the attempts downright comical. Farukh Chowdhury was one of the biggest culprits on the night with a truckload of misses just by himself.
One of these head-scratching moments came in the 71st when Farukh's attempted shot from inside the box with just the keeper to beat, only found the crossbar. The rebound though fell to Manvir Singh, who had no one to beat and an empty net staring at him with welcoming arms. Yet he scuffed his shot into the ground and over.
It was as if India's players either largely overestimated the size of the goal or their own finishing abilities.
#5 Blue Tigers in a coat of orange paint
#BlueTigers, #BackTheBlue etc. are just some of the hashtags associated with the national team. So when you see the team coming out in an all-orange kit, that's the first surprise. #BackTheOranje?
You think it maybe has something to do with the traditional blue colours clashing with those of the Lankans, but no the Lankans wore maroon.
So why did this match feature two teams wearing colours of the same hue, making for an altogether disconcerting watching experience? Your guess is as good as mine. Guess they went the extra mile to prove that this is a 'new-look Indian team'.
It was a sight for sore eyes only made worse by the Indian's hitting every thing but the back of the net with their attempts on goal.
We'll wait and see if this is a tournament-long approach with this kit or just an aesthetic oversight on the part of the Indian contingent and the tournament organizers.
