India vs Tajikistan: Debutants, Tajikistan's goalscoring hunger & other talking points from the second international friendly

India took the lead in the first half but Tajikistan equalised.

The Indian football team played out a 1-1 draw against Tajikistan at the Hisor Central Stadium as Vikram Partap Singh turned from Hero to Villain. The Mumbai City FC forward scored in the first half; however, he was the one to give away a penalty to the hosts to equalise the game in the second half.

Khalid Jamil’s side played better while compared to the 3-1 loss that they suffered to Tajikistan last week. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement as the Blue Tigers regroup over the post season break and get ready to kick off post the summer.

Here are four major talking points from India’s draw against Tajikistan on Tuesday:

Bijoy Varghese and Pramveer shine for the Blue Tigers

Khalid Jamil named Bijoy Varghese and Pramveer in the starting XI on Tuesday, handing the duo their full debut in the Indian Blue. Bijoy started in the heart of India’s defence and he partnered Sandesh Jhingan well to ward off most of Tajikistan’s attack.

Pramveer started as the central defensive midfielder for India and was quite active throughout the game. The Punjab FC player assisted his defenders and used his physicality to dominate the midfield battles to an extent.

India score from another freekick

Farukh Choudhary had scored an impressive freekick against Tajikistan in the 3-1 loss last week. The Chennaiyin FC player was once again involved in India’s solitary goal as his freekick was not read properly by the Tajikistan goalkeeper.

Vikram Partap Singh was the quickest to react and slotted the ball home in the 25th minute as the Tajikistan’s goalkeeper made a mess of the initial freekick.

While there is still a lot of room for improvement, Farukh Choudhary might become a good option for India to employ over set pieces in future games.

However, the 29-year-old needs to be a lot more consistent to win the fans over on his side.

Vikram Partap Singh – Hero turned Villain

Vikram Partap Singh scored his first goal for the Indian senior team on Tuesday, something that he would remember for a long time. However, things didn’t go exactly as planned for the 24-year-old forward in the second half.

The Mumbai City player conceded a penalty owing to his handball in the 84th minute of the game. Sheriddin Boboev stepped up to convert with ease from the spot kick to hand his side the equalizer.

Khalid Jamil’s side were lucky to not concede another penalty early in the first half as Nikhil Barla brought down a Tajikistan player in the box.

This would be something that the coach will surely be looking into this specifically as India had also conceded a penalty in the earlier game against Tajikistan.

Tajikistan looked hungrier in front of goal

Aside from the half chance that Vikram Partap Singh converted, India did not have many clear-cut chances in front of the goal. Rahim Ali, Farukh Choudhary, and Mohammed Sanan did not create many chances and India never looked like a team hunting for a second goal.

Tajikistan on the other hand, kept piling pressure on the Indian defence. The hosts had many chances in the second half and the Blue Tigers were slightly lucky not to have conceded another goal.

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