St Kitts and Nevis snatch draw as India’s defence shows weakness

India and St Kitts and Nevis settled for a 1-1 draw in Mumbai last night as the home side won a tri-nation tournament.

Two draws in a row saw the Sugar Boyz finish second with two points, ahead of Mauritius.

Gvaune Amory's corner conversion in the 71st minute cancelled out Jackichand Singh's 39th-minute strike, snapping a sequence of nine consecutive wins for India.

St Kitts-Nevis played some good football midway through the second half and got a deserved equaliser.

Against the Caribbean opponents, just like the Mauritius game, the Indian team looked a little half-cooked, particularly in the first half of both games.

After a hectic domestic season, the only competitive football the national team got was by the middle of June. The past two months have been a quieter period for most members of the squad and that showed.

Through the good form in recent months, the Indian defence has always looked uncertain. The central defensive partnership of Anas Edathodika and Sandesh Jhingan has not had a lot of time together.

That has led to some gaps in communication between them and the goalkeeper Subrata Pal, who has replaced the Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in this tournament.

St Kitts and Nevis are currently ranked 125 in the world.