SAFF Championship 2013: India vs Pakistan – Key individual battles

Mehtab Hossain – Adnan Ahmed

Mehtab Hossain(L)

Although the Sunil-Zesh battle will make most of the headlines, it is the midfield duel between Mehtab and Adnan that could decide the match.

Former Manchester United youngster Adnan is by far Pakistan’s most creative player and an excellent passer, so the majority of Pakistan’s attacks are expected to come through him. India will have to stop Adnan from dictating the play and midfield general Mehtab is their man to do that job.

The East Bengal man had some very good outings in this year’s AFC Cup where he faced some quality midfielders around the continent and he would be aiming for a strong performance in this game also.

Mehtab, however, does tend to make some rough tackles and thus, he would have to be careful of not getting sent off while trying to stop Adnan from providing service to the Pakistan forwards.

This is Mehtab’s second SAFF Championship after 2005 and there is a huge contrast now, as eight years ago he operated as a second striker.

With the defence not in good form, Mehtab has a huge task of protecting the back four while Adnan will try to get away from India’s holding midfielder and even run at their backline, given his ability to dribble past players. The winner of this battle could end up on the winning side.