India seek inspiration from last 2 wins in another friendly vs Thailand

India will take inspiration from their last two wins and talismanic Sunil Chhetri's good form when they face Asian rivals Thailand in an international friendly football match here on Wednesday.
For India, Thailand have been one of the most familiar continental rivals outside of South Asian countries. Both are among middle-rung Asian countries in the FIFA charts.
From the Asian Games to the Asian Cup, from the King's Cup to the Nehru Cup, the history of India versus Thailand clashes in men's football is a long one.
Since the first meeting at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, when India won 4-1, the two teams have played 26 times. India have won seven matches, while Thailand emerged victorious 12 times, and seven were draws.
The previous two matches, however, were both won by India in 2019.
A sensational 4-1 win at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in Abu Dhabi, before a narrow 1-0 victory to win bronze at the King's Cup on Thai soil.
Chhetri, who scored the first two goals in the Asian Cup victory, reminisced about the performance that ended India's 55-year wait for a win at the continental showpiece.
"That was a long time back. What I remember of the game was that the team was outstanding in that game. That's also a marker for us to know that on a good day, if we work hard, that's what we can achieve," said Chhetri in a press release issued by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
"That game was special because a lot of young people did really well. So, we are taking a lot of positivity and inspiration from the game.
"At that time, Thailand were probably better than us on paper by a mile. We were underdogs in that game, and to win the game the way we did it wasn't just four goals but the way we held ourselves and dominated the game was really fantastic." The Indian team will need the 40-year-old talismanic striker's goal-scoring prowess and his inspirational leadership to notch a hat-trick of wins against the Thais.
A win on Wednesday at the Thammasat Stadium will also a big confidence booster before the crucial AFC Asian Cup qualifying round match against Hong Kong on June 10 in Kowloon.
While India are currently placed 127th in the FIFA Rankings, Thailand are 99th. The Thais has risen 14 places since Japanese coach Masatada Ishii took charge in December 2023 and led them to the round of 16 of the Asian Cup a month later.
Though they failed to make it to third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, 2024 was a fairly successful year for Thailand. They won the King's Cup and finished runners-up in the ASEAN Championship.
The friendly against India serves as preparation for their AFC Asian Cup Final Round Qualifier against Turkmenistan.
Thailand have players who ply their trade abroad like mid-fielder Jaroensak Wonggorn (Cerezo Osaka in Japanese top tier), midfielder Ekanit Panya (Ehime FC in Japanese second tier) and defender Elias Dolah (Bali United in Indonesian top tier).
The notable names in the Thai squad are captain and mid-fielder Chanathip Songkrasin, who is the most experienced player with 70 caps, forward Supachai Chaided, Swedish-born defender Elias Dolah, midfielder Ben Davis, who has three goals in just six caps, and towering Italy-born defender Marco Ballini.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

News18

42 minutes ago

• News18

Watch: Bumrah Celebrates After Taking Root's Wicket For 10th Time In Test Cricket

Last Updated: Root was caught by Karun Nair in the first slip on the third ball of the 47th over of England's first innings bowled by Bumrah on Saturday. Joe Root was batting on 28 runs from 57 balls when Jasprit Bumrah bowled a super delivery on Saturday (June 21) to get the better of him. The ball kissed the edge of Root's bat and travelled straight to first slip, where Karun Nair was fielding, and he made no mistake to complete the catch. Root was the third English batter to get out on Saturday, and for the 10th time in 25 innings, he was sent back to the pavilion by Bumrah. After taking Root's wicket, Bumrah celebrated in an animated manner, and the video of his pumped-up celebration is now going viral on the internet. Before getting out, Root hammered two fours and added 80 runs for the third wicket with Ollie Pope (100 from 131 balls). Bumrah, who is the world's No. 1 Test bowler, picked up a total of three wickets for India on Saturday and conceded 48 runs in 13 overs. He opened his wicket account by getting Zak Crawley caught out by Karun on the last ball of the first over of England's first innings. Crawley faced six balls and scored four runs. Ben Duckett was the second English batter dismissed by Bumrah on Day 2 of the ongoing Test. Bumrah breached Duckett's defence and shattered his stumps. Before getting bowled out by the 31-year-old fast bowler, Duckett scored 62 runs from 94 balls with the help of nine fours. The wicket of Duckett helped Bumrah break Wasim Akram's record of most Test wickets by an Asian bowler in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries. During his playing days, Akram dismissed 146 batters in 32 Tests played in SENA countries. On the other hand, Bumrah now has 148 wickets to his name in 32 Tests played in SENA countries. Bumrah, who made his Test debut for India against South Africa at Newlands in Cape Town on January 5, 2018, has 40 wickets to his name in 10 Tests played on English soil so far, and he has dismissed 64 batters in 12 Tests played in Australia. Bumrah has played two Tests in New Zealand, in which he has picked up six wickets, and has 38 dismissals to his name in eight Tests played in South Africa.

Hindustan Times

an hour ago

• Hindustan Times

Jasprit Bumrah's stats vs World No 1 Test batter, Joe Root, are insane

Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of India's bowlers on Saturday, picking all three England wickets in the first innings after the visitors posted a 471-run total. The pacer got rid of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, and Joe Root to reduce the hosts to 209/3 at stumps on Day 2. Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Joe Root on Saturday (Action Images via Reuters) Bumrah drew over 35.3% false shots in his 13 overs on Day 2. He finished with figures of 3/25. The 31-year-old continued to create chances for the visitors throughout the first innings, but the team was not able to hold on to them. He eventually overtook Pakistan great Wasim Akram to become the highest Asian wicket-taker in SENA countries. Read More: Yashasvi Jaiswal does what no other batter in the history of cricket could: Tendulkar, Kohli, Viv Richards not close He also holds a formidable record against the World No 1 Test batter - Joe Root. He has dismissed the former English skipper 10 times in 25 innings. Only Pat Cummins has dismissed Root more times (11). Bowlers with Most Dismissals of Joe Root in Tests Pat Cummins: 11 dismissals Jasprit Bumrah: 10 dismissals Josh Hazlewood: 10 dismissals Nathan Lyon: 8 dismissals Mitchell Starc: 8 dismissals Ravindra Jadeja: 8 dismissals Bumrah vs Root: By the Numbers 2018: Root scored 44 runs off 127 balls, dismissed twice, with 99 dots, a strike rate of 34.6, and an average of 22. 2021: Root made 150 runs off 291 balls, out four times, with 212 dots, a strike rate of 51.5, and an average of 37.5. 2022: Root scored 50 runs off 62 balls, undismissed, with 37 dots and a strike rate of 80.6. 2024: Root scored 42 runs off 79 balls, dismissed three times, with 63 dots, a strike rate of 53.2, and an average of 14. 2025: Root scored 4 runs off 11 balls, out once, with 8 dots, a strike rate of 36.4, and an average of 4. Total: Across 570 balls, Root scored 290 runs, was dismissed 10 times, faced 419 dot balls, with a strike rate of 50.9 and an average of 29.

Time of India

an hour ago

• Time of India

FATF report links dual-use equipment seized by India in 2020 to Pakistan's defence agency

India confiscated equipment from a ship bound for Pakistan in 2020. The equipment is linked to Pakistan's National Development Complex. This complex is involved in missile development. The Financial Action Task Force report highlighted this seizure. The report also pointed out vulnerabilities in preventing weapons proliferation. The seized items were mis-declared as industrial dryers. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: A dual-use equipment seized by India from a Pakistan-bound merchant vessel in 2020 is linked to Islamabad's National Development Complex that is involved in the country's missile development programme, a new report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has seizure of the dual-use equipment used in developing missiles found mention in the report by the multilateral financial watchdog that highlighted vulnerabilities in the global financial report listed the case under a section on the misuse of the maritime and shipping sectors including to transport a range of commodities, including dual-use equipment."In 2020, Indian custom authorities seized an Asian-flagged ship bound for Pakistan. During an investigation, Indian authorities confirmed that documents mis-declared the shipment's dual-use items," the FATF report said."Indian investigators certified the items for shipment to be 'Autoclaves', which are used for sensitive high energy materials and for insulation and chemical coating of missile motors," the report said these sensitive items are included in dual-use export control lists of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).The bill of lading of the seized cargo provided evidence of the "link between the importer and the National Development Complex, which is involved in the development of long-range ballistic missiles," it export of equipment such as the autoclaves without formal approval from various authorities is a violation of existing law, the FATF National Development Complex (NDC) has played a crucial role in the development of Pakistan's missile had seized the dual-use equipment from merchant vessel Da Cui Yun at Kandla port in Gujarat on February 3, Indian customs authorities had stopped the vessel for wrongly declaring an autoclave, which can be used in construction of missiles, as an "industrial dryer".The report said that significant vulnerabilities remain across the global financial system in countering the financing of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)."Despite the grave threat posed by proliferation financing (PF), only 16 per cent of countries assessed by the FATF and its global network have demonstrated high or substantial effectiveness" in a process that evaluates the implementation of targeted financial sanctions under the United Nations Security Council resolutions on report said that unless the public and private sectors urgently bolster technical compliance and effectiveness, those seeking to finance WMD proliferation will continue to exploit weaknesses in existing report provided a detailed analysis of the evolving methods and techniques used to evade PF-related sanctions."Illicit actors are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to evade sanctions and circumvent export controls," it said.