Afghanistan vs India: 3 Talking points & tactical analysis | 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

India's quest to find their first victory in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers continued as Igor Stimac's team shared the spoils with Afghanistan at the Central Republican Stadium in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The Blue Tigers next travel to Oman to take on the Middle East nation and eye revenge for their loss.

India started the game with a 4-2-3-1 system with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in between the sticks. Pritam Kotal found himself back in the starting line-up at right-back with Mandar Rao Dessai operating on the other flank. Adil Khan and Rahul Bheke played at the heart of the defense.

Brandon Fernandes and Pronay Halder played in defensive midfield and were tasked with converting defence into attacks swiftly. Ashique Kuruniyan and Udanta Singh manned the wings, helping Sahal Abdul Samad in the centre of the park. India's captain Sunil Chhetri was once again the lone man forward.

Afghanistan took the lead through Zelfy Nazary just before half-time but India equalized in the dying embers of the game through substitute, Seiminlen Doungel.

The full-time scoreline read 1-1 as India still remained fourth in Group E.

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#3 Afghanistan make merry down India's left flank

Mandar Rao Dessai performed poorly and was subbed off at half-time (Image Credits: AIFF Media)

Afghanistan knew that India had troubles defending through balls in the space between the defenders and tried to exploit the weakness in the first half. Once they found that Adil Khan and Mandar were lacking the requisite understanding, they diverted their attacks to their right flank.

Mandar conceded cheap free-kicks in the dangerous position and even gave away corner-kicks. India were lucky not to concede from those set-pieces but Afghanistan got their goal from their forays on the right flank.

David Najem went all the way up to the byline and whipped a low cross which Nazary made converted confidently. Igor Stimac realized Afghanistan were capitalizing on Mandar's mistake and he took him off.

The Croatian made a bold decision to deploy Ashique Kuruniyan in the left-back position and bringing on Farukh Chaudhary. The substitution worked as the Bengaluru FC winger perfected his defensive duties and made good contributions in attack helping Farukh, who was also menacing after the break.

#2 Igor Stimac gets his substitutions right

Super-sub Seiminlen Doungel scored the lone goal for India in their game against Afghanistan (Image Credits: AIFF Media)

Farukh Chaudhary coming on for Mandar was a great change and the former combined wonderfully with Ashique in the 57th minute of the game which saw the former whip in a cross only for Chhetri to fluff his lines.

Another substitution saw Manvir Singh replace Sahal. The Kerala Blasters midfielder was ineffective offensively as he found it difficult to dribble past the Afghan defenders. And, perhaps, India would've been better served with Brandon and Halder as the sole midfielders and the Manvir providing a physical presence up front.

Although the FC Goa striker didn't have any direct contribution to the chances India created, his presence in the final third allowed the other players to perform better.

Stimac threw the proverbial kitchen sink in the 77th minute by bringing on Doungel in place of Kotal. The FC Goa winger looked lively in the attacking third on the right-wing as he showed glimpses of his exceptional dribbling abilities.

The 25-year-old finally found the back of the net in stoppage time of the second half when he towered above the Afghan defenders to divert Brandon's corner.

#1 Afghan defenders isolate Sunil Chhetri

The Afghan defenders were good at what they were told to do, isolate Sunil Chhetri and waste valuable time (Image Credits: AIFF Media)

By his standards, Sunil Chhetri was nowhere close to his A-game. But, full points to the Afghanistan defenders for not giving him space to exploit. Even when he dropped deep to fetch the ball, there was always an Afghan player breathing down his neck. On one occasion, he had to go all the way to the centre-circle so that he didn't lose possession.

With Afghanistan players not giving him an inch in open play, the 35-year-old knew his best chance would only come through set-pieces. Everyone failed to read the trajectory of Brandon's free-kick in the 57th minute and the ball fell kindly to Chhetri to head it home from close range.

But, the captain got his head under the ball and it kissed the upper part of the crossbar. Additionally, the Indian skipper also failed to connect with a wonderful cross from the left-flank on one of the rare occasions when he was accorded space from open play.