India vs Bangladesh: Sunil Chhetri Has Rare Off Day as Hamza Choudhury Marks BAN Debut With Draw vs IND

The Indian football team's AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers got off to a poor start as they were held to a goalless draw by Bangladesh at Shillong on Tuesday (March 25).

The game was billed as a battle between Sunil Chhetri and Hamza Choudhury, with the Leicester City midfielder who is currently on loan to Sheffield United making his debut for Bangladesh.

And while the game saw plenty of chances being fashioned, it resulted in no goals at all being scored.

The good news for both teams is that the other Group C fixture between Singapore and Hong Kong also ended in a goalless draw, meaning there is everything to play for in the remaining five games.

Bangladesh Test India's Resolve

The first half of the game was an extremely open affair as both teams looked nervy and thus gave the other chances to score.

Indian goalkeeper Vishal Kaith, in particular, looked shaky and had two slips in as many minutes in the start of the game.

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The first of those slips almost led to a goal but Bangladesh were wasteful - a recurring theme through the half.

Bangladesh looked to sit deep and counter when the chance came, and those counters had India's defenders in retreat mode quite often.

India Improve But Find No Goals

The story changed in the second half as it was India who had the lion's share of the better chances, but could not convert.

Left-back Subhasish Bose went close from a long-range shot, then once again a few minutes later when he rammed a header just wide from a Liston Colaco corner.

Colaco's corners caused plenty of trouble for Bangladesh as even Chhetri came close to half-volleying home from one of them, only to blaze it high.

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India even made a double change, with head coach Manolo Marquez bringing on Suresh Singh Wangjam and Naorem Mahesh Singh for Ayush Chhetri and Udanta Singh.

Chhetri missed perhaps the chance of the game when he was found by a Mahesh cross in acres of space, but chose to tamely head the ball well wide. 

Bangladesh almost snatched the game in injury time but, true to form, were unable to convert the chance and the spoils were shared.