India, who rested experienced central defender Sandesh Jhingan, went into an arrear in the 37th minute but came back strongly within six minutes to level the score through Ashique Kuruniyan.
Now the assistant coach of the National Team, Gawali, 42, felt truly nostalgic on the eve of leaving for Vietnam to play the Hung Thinh Friendly Football Tournament from September 24-27, where India will take on Singapore and Vietnam.
The Blue Tigers demonstrated their dominance by smashing their opponents. With this win, India finished first in the group with nine points from three wins and also secured their second consecutive Asian Cup main-round entry for the first time in the tournament's history.
India started the match on the front foot just as they did against Afghanistan and they were duly rewarded for their efforts. They were awarded a corner in the 2nd minute of the game and they took full advantage of the set piece.
The Blue Tigers are on the cusp of qualifying for back-to-back editions of the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in their history and need a just a point against Hong Kong to secure their berth in the AFC Asian Cup finals.
Hong Kong have also won both its matches against Afghanistan and Cambodia so far. As a result, the final match will determine the top spot, with the winners advancing directly to the AFC Asian Cup 2023 main draw.
The midfielder was the man of the moment, seizing the limelight after bringing home the three points in a last-gasp goal after being subbed on for goalscorer and captain Sunil Chhetri in the closing minutes of the match.