AFC Asian Cup 2023: India Defense Report Card - Sandesh Jhingan & Backline's Good Efforts In Face Of Fruitless Campaign

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India's run at the AFC Asian Cup 2023 was futile. They dropped out of the tournament with 0 wins from their three group stage matches. They couldn't score any goals and conceded six in the process.

Considering the opponents they had, the Blue Tigers managed to hold on well in most cases. India's defense was mainly the reason behind that as compared to the rest of the departments, India's defense showed promise.

Coach Igor Stimac had to travel without one crucial part of his centre-back pairing. Sandesh Jhingan had to travel to Qatar without his partner Anwar Ali at the centre of the backline due to Ali's ankle injury.

The defenders that travelled to Qatar for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 were - Akash Mishra, Lalchungnunga, Mehtab Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Sandesh Jhingan, and Subhasish Bose. The coach used 5 of these defenders on a regular basis.

Sandesh Jhingan was always going to be the most important man in the backline. In the absence of Ali, Rahul Bheke played beside him in all three matches. Both Jhingan and Bheke provided the best performance throughout their short campaign.

Jhingan gave it his all including taking some bruises during their match against Australia. He had an off-day against Uzbekistan, but came back strong again in their last match against Syria. Barring a few mistakes, Bheke was also effective in the centre-back position.

Subhasish Bose started in the left-back position and was effective against Australia and Syria. Akash Mishra and Nikhil Poojary also started in two matches each on both sides of the fullback positions. Both players are attack-minded and moved up the field whenever necessary.

However, they couldn't produce a lot of firepower to the attacking chances. When they moved up, opponents’ attackers exploited the gaps and in many of such cases, Mishra and Poojary had trouble tracking back and helping the defense.