Talking Points: Was it the right call to drop Anirudh Thapa from India's starting XI?

The Dutch Caribbean island nation had a dominant first half and sealed the game before the break.

India began their new era under tactician Igor Stimac with a 3-1 defeat against Curacao in the King's Cup. The opening clash of the tournament saw Roly Bonevacia, Elson Hooi and Leandro Bacuna register their names on the scoresheet.

Meanwhile, record-breaker Sunil Chhetri scored the solitary goal for the Blue Tigers via a penalty. Coincidentally, all the goals came before the interval. Chhetri's 68th goal came in his 108th appearance for India, eclipsing Bhaichung Bhutia (107 caps). 

The first half saw a poor defensive performance by the visitors, which improved in the second 45. In their next encounter, Stimac's side face Thailand in the third-place playoff of the tournament.

5. Could Gurpreet Singh Sandhu benefit from more competition in the national team?

The Bengaluru FC custodian is no doubt one of the best goalkeepers in the country, but he should've brought his European experience into play in this game. He should have done better to stop the first goal.

Gurpreet has looked complacent at times, due to knowing that his starting spot is all but assured. Although, the loss wasn't his fault and the scoreline could have been better, but for a shaky backline. More competition from the likes of Amrinder Singh, Kamaljit Singh, or even Bilal Khan, will provide the shot-stopper the fight for his place, that should motivate him to excel and get back to his former best.

4. Sahal Abdul Samad was a bright spark in midfield

Before leaving for Thailand, India skipper Chhetri had stated in a media interaction that Sahal Abdul Samad is a bright talent.

The 22-year-old had a decent debut in national colours. He came close to scoring a goal in the 5th minute. He was the one who won the penalty for India and also setup a great chance for Udanta in the 42nd minute, but was denied by Eloy Room.

He certainly has a bright future in national colours, for years to come.

3. Rahul Bheke needs to work on his defensive duties

Rahul Bheke was given his much-awaited debut by Igor Stimac, starting him alongside Sandesh Jhingan in the centre-back position. The Bengaluru man was not deployed in his natural position due to a lack of defensive options. Bheke excelled in the right-back spot for his club and there was no point starting him at centre-back with Jhingan, who hasn't played with him before.

Bheke was caught out of the position multiple time, and gave too much space to the Curacao attackers, resulting in three goals.

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2. Was it the right decision to make Brandon Fernandes play as a deep-lying playmaker?

Brandon is yet another player who didn't play in his natural position. He was given a call-up based on his performances for FC Goa, where he played as an attacking midfielder or a winger. But, somehow the team management opted to play him alongside Pranoy Halder and debutant Sahal Abdul Samad, which didn't bring the best out of him.

If he had been played as an attacking midfielder he would've created more chances for Sunil Chhetri upfront

1. Was it the right call to drop Anirudh Thapa from the starting XI?

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Anirudh Thapa was surprisingly dropped by Stimac against Curacao, in spite of playing a key role for Chennaiyin FC in the AFC Cup.

In the last game of the AFC Asian Cup, against Bahrain, he was dropped and India paid the price for it and yesterday too, his presence was missed. Thapa is a player who can control the tempo of the game and around whom the Indian midfield should be built.