Intercontinental Cup: Chhetri-led India seeks title, Kenya may block road

The hosts are the side to beat this tournament as they have throughout played an aggressive brand of football

Press Trust of India  |  Mumbai 

will for the umpteenth time look up to the and a stadium packed to the brim with emotionally-charged fans for inspiration as they face in the summit showdown of the here on Sunday.

The tournament is being used by hosts as a preparatory ground for the AFC Asian Cup, to be held in January next year, and a win in the final will surely boost their confidence going ahead.

had blanked 3-0 in the league game at the Mumbai Arena, which was Chhetri's 100th appearance in national colours. And the made the game memorable by scoring a brace.

They will look to replicate the performance of their league game against the African side again in the summit clash, which the organisers have claimed to be a 'sold out' match.

The hosts are the side to beat this tournament as they have throughout played an aggressive brand of

But the Stephen Constantine coached team cannot take Kenya lightly as they have defeated 2-1 and blanked Chinese 4-0 last night.

Constantine will ensure that his best playing XI will take the field tomorrow after his strategy of making seven changes initially in the game against backfired as the team lost 2-1.

For India, all eyes will again be on Chhetri, who has 62 goals to his credit and will look to add to his tally.

He and the experienced Jeje Lalpekhlua can pose challenge to any strong defense and Kenya's would be no exception.

India also boast of an array of decent midfielders like Udanta Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Pranay Halder and Halicharan Narzary.

They will have to play their roles to perfection if the physically strong Kenyan strikers are to be tamed.

At the back, India have experienced defenders like and Add to it the likes of Subhasish Bose, and the hosts can make Kenya's life pretty difficult.

And Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who was benched in the last game, will be back in action. He will have to surely be at his best.

On the other hand, Kenya would have bolstered their confidence after they drubbed Chinese Taipei, and will look to spoil India's party.

Kenya would want his two main strikers -- Ovella Ochieng and Pistone Mutamba -- to go all guns blazing.

While Kenya will seek to take revenge of their humiliating loss in the league stage, the home team will look to end the tournament that witnessed an outpouring of emotions after Chhetri's impassioned plea asking fans to turn up for India games, on a positive note.

India squad:

GOALKEEPERS: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh,

DEFENDERS: Pritam Kotal, Anas Edathodika, Salam Ranjan Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Lalruatthara, Narayan Das, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Subhasish Bose.

MIDFIELDERS: Udanta Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan, Rowllin Borges, Anirudh Thapa, Pronay Halder, Md. Rafique, Halicharan Narzary, Laldanmawia Ralte.

FORWARDS: Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh,

Match starts at 8 PM.

First Published: Sat, June 09 2018. 15:10 IST