Mighty Kuwait stand in way of India's ninth SAFF Championship title

Reigning champions Blue Tigers would look to preserve a proud record and add a ninth title to their shelf when they face a tough Kuwait in the SAFF Championship final on TuesdaySunil Chhetri and Co were stretched to a penalty shootout by Lebanon in the semifinals before winning 42 while Kuwait had to wait till extra time to eke out a 10 victory over Bangladesh In fact this will be the second time India will face Kuwait in the tournament They had played out a 11 draw in an acrimonious Group A match last weekIndia might just appear to have a slight upper hand in front of a hugely partisan home crowd at the Kanteerava StadiumBut there is a worrying aspect Will India be able to give their best in the final after they were made to toil for two matches in successionIndia assistant coach Mahesh Gawli sought to allay such concernsId like to say that if you get one week you cant do anything But when you get one month or more you work more on fitness said GawliI think we had almost 50 days Our strength and conditioning coach Luka Radman has done a wonderful job We have seen our players playing without injuries and there have been no cramps as wellAlso Read SAFF Championship 2023 India coach Stimac unhappy over ballpossession issuesIn the final India will also be boosted by the return of key defender Sandesh Jhingan He had missed the semifinal against Lebanon owing to two accumulated yellow cards against Pakistan and KuwaitAnwar Ali had replaced Jhingan in the lineup against Lebanon in the semifinals and he did an excellent job in thwarting Lebanese advancesHead coach Igor Stimac will be absent from the India dug out in this match as well after he was slapped with twomatch ban by the SAFF disciplinary committeeStimac had received his second red card of the tournament during the match against Kuwait Earlier he was slapped with a red card in Indias tournament opener against PakistanHowever India under the talismanic Sunil Chhetri had shown a streak of determination to rise above obstaclesAfter scoring in three successive matches in the group stage Chhetri was not able to find the back of the net in the semifinals against Lebanon Of course he converted a penalty in the shootout but the striker would like to make a heftier contribution in the summit clashIndia would also hope that Sahal Abdul Samad Mahesh Singh and Udanta Singh will continue to be energetic on the field feeding Chhetri with those dreaded crossesMahesh who is usually deployed as a winger was fielded behind Chhetri against Lebanon to add more support to the skipper Gawli indicated a continuation of that strategy in the final as welliquestWe wanted him to play there in wings and feed the wingers and Sunil Chhetri He was doing that We kept Ashique Kuruniyan on the left because of the physicality and he was doing well He was running a lot We did not want to change thatiquest Gawli saidBut the Indians know that Kuwait are a battlehardened side and nothing less than their best would sufficeWith PTI inputs