King's Cup: India 1-0 Thailand - 5 Talking Points as Blue Tigers finish third

#4 Adil marks his comeback with commanding performance

Adil (R) crosses the ball before the goal

Since Anas Edathodika hung up his boots, the big question was, who would fill his place as a central defender. Stimac tried to play Rahul Bheke in that position against Curacao but it was a big flop.

As a result, experienced defender Adil Khan was given the responsibility to partner Sandesh Jhinghan at the heart of the defence. Honestly, playing for India after seven years, Adil’s performance was beyond imagination.

He not only guarded the defence with his brilliant technique, the only goal of the match came from his pass. He has a good physique, which he used perfectly to keep the Thailand attackers at bay.

He blocked countless shots, headed away dangerous crosses, put himself on the line of the ball, took perfect positions while defending set-pieces. In all, he did what he was expected to do. Jhinghan also got back his rhythm after finding an able partner in Adil.

However, Bheke, who performed brilliantly in the right-back position for Bengaluru FC, was caught off-guard repeatedly by Thailand wingers. He couldn’t match with the speed of the players and made no useful crosses during the match.

But even the best players can have off days. There is no doubt that Bheke would learn quickly from his mistakes.