India play their final match of the Hero Tri-Nation Series when they take on 125th ranked Saint Kitts and Nevis at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday. The Blue Tigers, having edged Mauritius 2-1 in their opening match, would want to finish the tournament with an unblemished record. India’s head coach Stephen Constantine juggled his squad throughout the previous match, and each player played his part to the tee in a unit that was efficiently captained by centre-back Sandesh Jhingan. They would be looking to do more of the same when they host the team from the Caribbean, although without some of the nervy moments and occasional lapse in defence.Striker Robin Singh, who scored the opener against Mauritius, will most likely lead the attacking line once again alongside Halicharan Narzary and Jeje Lalpekhlua, who had a surprisingly quiet evening by his standards. Another striker who would look to consolidate his position in the squad would be Balwant Singh, who had come on as a substitute to score the winner which also happened to be his first international goal.The midfield also proved to be a potent threat throughout, with Rowllin Borges and Eugeneson Lyngdoh carrying forward most of the attack, and they will possibly revert to the same style of play.Jhingan marshalled his defence well, often throwing himself around to make crucial blocks and his partnership with Anas Edathodika kept the opponents at bay, although there were a few loopholes which Mauritius failed to capitalise on. Add to that, the tireless Narayan Das not only helped them hold their lines, but also fed in exquisite balls from the flanks and from set pieces.Saint Kitts and Nevis, on the other hand, did well to snatch a draw in their encounter against Mauritius leaving it till the 87th minute to find the back of the net in a match they were chasing and were on the back foot for the most part.Interestingly, only five months ago in March, the Caribbean team had acquired a best-ever ranking of 73, which was at that time 59 places above India, who were rooted at 132nd.The Sugar Boyz, as they are called, will look to 23-year-old Kimaree Rogers, the winger who scored the all-important equaliser in their previous match, to ask questions of the Indian defenders. Also hoping to leave an impression would be 21-year-old striker Carlos Bertie, who having made his debut in 2016, already has two senior goals to his name.All said and done, the hosts are once again the favourites, but would be wary of the attacking threat posed by the team from the Caribbean.The match kicks off at 20:00 IST on Thursday, 24th August and will be broadcast LIVE on the Star Sports network and Jio TV.
