Indian Player Ratings: Nishu Kumar, Germanpreet Singh the bright sparks in haphazard Indian display

The game was full of surprises as the Blue Tigers did not start with any of their recognized strikers against the hosts. 

India fell to a 1-2 loss to Jordan at a rain-soaked Amman in their first-ever FIFA international friendly on Saturday. Playing a much-depleted unit due to travel issues, Jordan pegged India back and scored their first luckily, after Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s mistake handed goal-keeper Amir Shafi his first goal. Insan Haddad doubled their lead in the second half, while a debut goal from Nishu Kumar wasn’t enough to turn it around for India.

Here are our Indian player ratings for the match:  

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu- 6.0

The stand-in captain had a topsy-turvy night. Gurpreet made a stunning penalty save to deny Jordan, diving strongly to his right. However, he undid his heroics by embarrassingly conceding a freak goal. Couldn’t do much to stop Jordan’s second, but made a few strong saves to keep them out afterwards.  

Pritam Kotal- 4.5

Kotal was given a nightmare by Al-Bakheet. Was unlucky to concede a penalty with his hand-ball. Afterwards, he made many misplaced passes and was repeatedly caught out. The full-back was outwitted by Al-Bakheet, who left him for dead on multiple occasions and even nutmegged him. His mistakes caused big problems for the Blue Tigers.  

Salam Ranjan Singh- 6.0

The youngster was given a surprising start and took it strongly. He covered up for Pritam on multiple occasions and remained strong in the middle. Singh used his intelligent game-reading ability to contain Jordan’s attackers and kept Faisal relatively quiet with his stout marking.

Anas Edathodika- 5.0

Anas was not at his reliable best against Jordan and often lost his concentration in defence. He couldn’t manage to hold India’s defensive line and made too many errors himself. Be it his poor distribution or marking of players in the box, Edathodika looked clueless without Jhingan by his side. Almost got his side into trouble with his misplaced passes and poor positional sense.  

Subhashish Bose- 6.5

Arguably India’s best defensive outlet, Bose retained his impressive ISL form against Jordan. He was as compelling as ever on the left, making important challenges and recovering the ball numerous times. He also made a crucial goal-line clearance in the first half and kept Jordan quiet on his side. Not given much license to roam forward, but was superb at the back.

Jackichand Singh- 5.5

Jacki didn’t look the terrorizing winger he’s been in recent months. He was lazy on the right and gave the ball away too cheaply on numerous occasions. He couldn’t manage to conjure up anything promising and frustrated his teammates with his mistakes. Was substituted by Nishu in the second half.

Vineet Rai- 6.0

The young midfielder was an energetic figure in the middle for the Blue Tigers. Rai’s passing was pretty good and he moved around the field, giving options to his teammates to keep distributing the ball.

Pronoy Halder- 5.5

Pronoy had a rather bittersweet game. He was decent in holding the midfield line and hanging around ahead of his defenders, but aggressiveness and lapse in concentration hurt him at times. He got booked for a needlessly strong challenge in the first half and had to go slow after that. Missed a tough chance to equalize late on.

Germanpreet Singh- 7.0

Germanpreet grabbed his opportunity and gave a bright performance. He was an industrious figure and roamed forward with confidence. The midfielder was defensively compelling and his distribution was commendable. He started attacking more in the second half and found Nishu with a clever pass which got him a great assist.  

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Jerry Lalrinzuala- 5.5

Jerry gave a decent showing defensively, aiding Bose really well on the left flank. While he couldn’t do much going forward, he was a tenacious figure on the left wing. The full-back linked-up with Bose to frustrate Jordan, but needs to improve himself going forward.

Anirudh Thapa- 6.5

In his first game as a false #9 for the Blue Tigers, Thapa didn’t do that badly. He soon realized his limitations and played quite cleverly afterwards. His distribution was impressive and he came deep to help his depleted side get some possession. Was influential in creating the goal, drawing in a defender to let Nishu score.

Substitutions

Ashique Kuruniyan- 6.0

Ashique threatened Jordan with his pace and movement. However, he couldn’t create anything concrete and was troubled by the opposition's physical aspect.

Nishu Kumar- 7.5

A memorable debut for the youngster. He scored confidently minutes after coming on, sneaking into the box and netting off Germanpreet’s assist. Nishu looked a confident figure throughout, with his impressive attacking display now giving Constantine more options in attack. Narayan Das- N/A

Came on late into the game and couldn’t really do much apart from focusing on defending.

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Sumit Passi- N/A

 Had a few touches of the ball, but didn’t make much of an impact.