Asian Cup 2019: India vs Bahrain - 5 Hits and Flops as Blue Tigers crash out

Bahrain pipped India 1-0 at the dying embers of the game to send them home from the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The middle-eastern side went with an attacking mindset from the opening whistle itself and finally got their winner through a spot-kick in the first minute of added time.

India produced a commendable performance against Thailand and UAE earlier in the tournament. However, against Bahrain, they weren't even a shadow of themselves.

From the coach's tactics to that of the starting eleven, nothing went in favour of the Blue Tigers and, they deservedly lost the match. The coach expectedly stepped down at the end of the match.

However, some Indian players were the shining light in the dark cloud whereas others' inclusion in the match posed a big question mark. Here are the hits and flops from the India vs Bahrain encounter.

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#5 Hit - Gurpreet Singh Sandhu

If a side parks the bus and shoots aimless long balls on the counter, the goalkeeper is expected to face a barrage of shots. Against Bahrain, the story was the same as the Gulf side had 22 shots, 12 of which were from inside the box.

Although only six of them were on target, all of those could have bulged the net if it weren't for Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's positioning and reflexes.

The Bengaluru FC player made six saves for India, which included a 61st minute acrobatic save from a long-range Alaswad effort and a punch in the 85th minute from a corner kick which otherwise would have been gone in.

All his hard work was undone by Pronay Halder in the 90th minute when he clipped Alshamsan's legs inside the penalty box to award Bahrain a penalty. Gurpreet isn't one of the best goalkeepers in India when it comes to saving penalties. It was evident when he succumbed to Jamal Rasheed's well-taken spot kick.

His long ball towards Udanta Singh and Sunil Chhetri didn't work either as the Bahraini defenders read the danger and initiated their attack quickly. Despite India's loss, Gurpreet can hold his head high as he gave a brilliant account of himself.

#4 Flop - Jeje Lalpekhlua

Apart from the goal against Thailand, Jeje Lalpekhlua had a miserable tournament

Ashique Kuruniyan isn't a natural striker. The FC Pune City winger's role diminished as the halftime whistle came closer and, he was rightfully replaced by Jeje Lalpekhlua.

However, the Mizo Sniper's slow pace proved to be costly for India as they were unable to initiate a single counter-attack in the second half. One of Jeje's greatest strength is to hold the ball in his feet.

If he could have done that and drawn some fouls, India would have winded the clock down and got scoring opportunities from the set-pieces.

However, he managed to win only one foul in the 53rd minute, other than which the Bahraini midfielders and defenders got the better of him every time. Moreover, he even conceded 4 out of India's 17 fouls, one of which was in India's defensive half.

Stephen Constantine showed a lot of faith in the 28-year-old by selecting him in the squad despite his abysmal performance in the Indian Super League. Now that Constantine has resigned, his future in the national team looks bleak too.

#3 Hit - Sandesh Jhingan

Sandesh Jhingan tries to win the ball from Mohammed Al-Romaihi

If there was one player who didn't want to see India lose at any cost in the pitch, that guy was Sandesh Jhingan. The Kerala Blasters defender revealed earlier that he cried when India lost to Bahrain in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and got knocked out of the tournament.

This time he vowed to turn those tears into that of happiness. However, it remained that of sorrow as history repeated itself.

It was up to him when his comrade Anas Edathodika had to be substituted in the fourth minute owing to a knee injury. He took the challenge with full hands as he denied Bahrain any clear-cut goalscoring opportunity in the first half.

The 25-year-old put out his legs, heart, body, and soul to make vital interceptions, blocks, clearances, and sliding tackles both inside and outside the box.

In the end, India made a total of 15 tackles, 38 clearances, 5 blocks, and 14 interceptions. It wouldn't sound far-fetched if we tell that more than 50% of that involved India's warrior for the day Sandesh Jhingan.

#2 Flop - Rowllin Borges

Rowllin Borges' time in the Indian

colors

might be up

The moment the Playing XI was announced, eyebrows were raised over the inclusion of Rowllin Borges for Anirudh Thapa by coach Stephen Constantine. It was not surprising that India lost the battle in the central midfield completely. Borges offered little in the attack and Bahrain had the complete leverage in the centre of the park against India.

Borges only had the upper hand over Anirudh Thapa in height and dead-ball deliveries. Moreover, he was brought in so that he can prevent Bahrain from passing the ball freely in India's half. However, the stats show that India performed miserably in all these three departments.

Bahrain won 58.5% of the aerial duels, which indicates that India came second best in the air almost every time. The 113rd-ranked nation had a staggering passing accuracy of 68% and 61.1% of that in India's half. Even in set-pieces, his crosses were wayward and failed to clear the first defender.

Rowllin Borges was one of Stephen Constantine's trusted soldiers who underperformed for his clubs. His time might be up too.

#1 Hit - Jamal Rashed

Jamal Rashed's goal broke a billion Indian hearts

Jamal Rashed might have made thousands of Indians cry as his 91st-minute penalty ended the Blue Tigers' run in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. However, the Bahraini fans will give him a hero's welcome as his swing of the boot sent the middle-eastern side through to the knockouts for only the second time in history.

The 30-year-old looked threatening right from the sixth minute when his left-footed shot from the centre of the box missed the target by a whisker.

Jamal played just behind substitute Abdulla Yusuf Helal and gave an incisive open play cross in the 63rd minute which was cleared away by the Indian defenders.

Jamal Rashed even took two shots on goal, which were out of target eventually. However, when he kept his shot on target, tears started to roll down the cheeks of thousands of Indian fans as it ended their sojourn in the continental extravaganza.