Atlético de Kolkata and Chennaiyin FC battled to a bruising goalless draw in an eighth round match of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) in Kolkata. Harmanjot Singh Khabra was happy that the southern side were able to come away with a point from the away match. The 25-year-old all action midfielder is a well known figure in the Kolkata maidan, having represented East Bengal Club with great distinction over the past few years. Earlier, the versatile player was with Sporting Clube de Goa.Khabra has been part of India junior set-ups and also made three appearances for the senior national team. indiansuperleague.com caught up with the Punjabi player soon after the match. Here are some excerpts from the exclusive interview:You’ve played many matches at this ground for the local team (East Bengal). How does it feel coming back and playing for Chennaiyin FC?The atmosphere is great here because the Kolkata crowd is pretty crazy about their football and I’ve enjoyed this for the past five or six years. They’ve respected me a lot and I’m very thankful to them.The match ended in a goalless draw. Do you think it’s a point earned or two points lost?We had a lot of chances to score today. We have a lot to think about but our team played well and both the teams have shown a good quality of football. We got a point and we’re still second, so it’s a good thing for the team."I always like challenges and am always ready for a challenge."Harmanjot KhabraYou had quite a few tussles with their marquee player Luis García and you marked him pretty well. Was there any specific preparation on your part? Actually, my father - who is sitting over there - has a good name in Indian football, so whenever I play in front of him it’s like an extra energy for me. I always like challenges and am always ready for a challenge.What kind of instructions and inputs do players like Elano and Marco Materazzi give you?They’re great. I feel really lucky just to sit beside them and I’m getting a chance to play with them. I think they’re the best human beings; they’re really caring and whenever you make any mistakes, they’re always there to correct you. So it’s a good atmosphere in the team. That’s why our team is doing so well.Kolkata and Chennai both had a good chance of increasing their lead at the top, but now Pune City is snapping at your heels. Is this a good thing for the ISL?They didn’t start the tournament very well but now they’ve been getting some good results and good points now. So I’m really happy that other teams are coming up and that the league is becoming very competitive. It gives us so much confidence that despite it being such a competitive league, we’re second. So it will motivate us to perform even better.How confident are you of making the play-offs?I am very confident that we’ll make it because we’re such a good team. We’re taking it match by match. We hope that the results will pan out in our best interests.
