Bahrain Vs India Ratings: Bheke, Roshan silver linings in friendly defeat

Yet again, a late winner handed the Blue Tigers loss against Dilmun Warriors.

India were edged 1-2 by Bahrain in their international friendly game at the Al Muharraq Stadium in Arad on Wednesday. The Blue Tigers went behind in the 37th minute after a slick move was converted by Bahrain midfielder Mohammed Al-Harden. We take a look at the Bahrain vs India player ratings here.

However, Igor Stimac’s men dug deep and got an equalizer in the 59th minute thanks to a powerful header from Rahul Bheke. Just as it looked like the Blue Tigers would get a result from the game, Bahrain broke hearts again with Mahdi Al-Humaidan popping up at the far post to finish past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

Here are the player ratings for the Bahrain vs India clash.

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Gurpreet Singh Sandhu – 7.5

Captain Gurpreet proved his quality by making the stunning penalty save, diving strongly to his left to deny Bahrain an early opener. Stood strong against the barrage of crosses into his box and made some fine saves. Bit unlucky to concede the two goals from close range, giving him no chance.  

Pritam Kotal – 4.5

Kotal operated as a right-back on the night, but couldn’t make much of a difference going forward. Made some nice forward runs, but never seemed a major threat in creating anything.

Caught out of position a couple of times, especially for the second goal, where he lost Al-Humaidan and let him escape to score an easy tap-in.  

Rahul Bheke – 7.5

Bheke was often left to cover for the overlapping Kotal, but used his game-reading ability really well to cut out a lot of opposition moves.

Positioned himself well to make clutch clearances and frustrate the opposition forwards. Then came up big in the opposition box, latching on to Roshan’s cross and banging in the equalizer.

Sandesh Jhingan – 7.0

Bit unfortunate to concede the early penalty like that, but solidified himself after seeing Gurpreet save it. Proactive at the back and reacted superbly to danger, making some solid clearances to stop the opposition from threatening his goal. Didn’t look fully fit, but still put in an admirable effort in his first international game in nearly a year.

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Subhasish Bose – 4.0

Bahrain seemingly targeted Subhasish’s flank, persistently attacking through that side and he buckled under the pressure. Caught out of position multiple times and gave the ball away in dangerous areas sloppily. Caught napping as Al-Harden sneaked in behind him for the opener.  

Pronay Halder – 6.0

Pronay started his first international game in a long time and seemed pumped for it, making crunching challenges to rile up the opposition midfielders. His aggressiveness got him out of place at times, but Halder protected his backline well and made some superb progressive passes to get things going in attack.

Danish Farooq – 5.5

Farooq also made his international debut and seemed secure in the midfield pivot with Halder. Maintained a solid narrow shape to ensure Bahrain couldn’t move easily through the middle. However, his passing was a bit off and often over-hit, as he couldn’t really add much creative threat.

VP Suhair – 5.0

Making his international debut, the NorthEast United forward looked energetic in the initial stages and pressed the opponents well. Made some nice forward runs and did get into the box a couple of times, but failed to be clinical enough in the final third. Taken off before the hour mark.

Liston Colaco – 4.5

Despite coming into this game on the back of red-hot form, Liston had a frustrating evening. Hardly got to see much of the ball and given little room to operate on the left wing. Unable to create much, didn’t provide defensive cover, gave the ball away too many times and taken off at half-time.

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Rahim Ali – 6.0

The Chennaiyin FC forward showed a lot of heart in working extremely hard in the game and covering a lot of ground. Got behind the defenders smartly with some nice movement and setup the big chance for Manvir with a smart pass. Fizzled out once he was moved to the wings.

Manvir Singh – 4.5

Manvir often interchanged positions with Ali, but was India’s designed No. 9 on the day. Missed a huge chance in the first half, mishitting a header wide from an open area. Used his physique to produce some decent hold-up play, but his link-up play and threat in the final third was extremely minimal.

Substitutes

Naoram Roshan Singh – 8.0

The youngster had a debut to remember, despite the loss. Buzzed around the left wing and nearly scored moments after coming on.

Swung in a perfect cross to setup Bheke’s equalizer. Showed great positivity on the ball, leaving defenders guessing and was like a breath of fresh air with his movement down the wing.

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Anirudh Thapa – 6.0

Thapa added more legs to India’s midfield, but had to defend more than he got the ball. Produced some decent defensive contribution with some smart interceptions, but unable to create anything really special.

Aniket Jadhav – N/A

Jadhav was not really able to use his pace or dribbling skills down the right, not being given much space to maneuver. When he did get a major chance to run in the last moments, he fluffed his line with a poor cross to waste a potential chance. Did not track back quickly enough for the second goal India conceded from his side.

Yasir Mohammed – N/A

The Hyderabad FC man was not really able to put his majestic left foot to much use towards the end, being unable to setup anything big.

Anwar Ali Jr – N/A

The centre-back made his international debut for India, playing for the last few minutes.

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