Thapa who was part of the Indian team at the AFC Asian Cup 2019, suggested that the current team has improved a lot in terms of the quality of players since their previous appearance in the continental showpiece and believes they can make the cut to the competition again.
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 7 (ANI): India football head coach Igor Stimac believes his team are fully prepared and is hopeful of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup finals as they take on Cambodia in the third round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolka
India are chasing a fifth appearance in the Asian Cup finals tournament. The Blue Tigers aim to qualify for back-to-back Asian Cups for the first time ever. Previously, India have featured in the 1964, 1984, 2011, and 2019 editions.
Nepal won the toss and having put Thailand in to bat, their bowlers bowled well to concede only three boundaries in the entire innings to restrict them to 89-7 in 20 overs.
Ranked higher than Cambodia, the Blue Tigers will start as the favourites in the match and history is also against the Angkor Warriors who don't have the best of records against the Igor Stimac's men.
The Goa-born forward although is not a stranger to the Salt Lake Stadium, having featured for his club side ATK Mohun Bagan in the recently-concluded AFC Cup group stage matches.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Bhutan skipper Ngawang Choden struck a pair of early boundaries to propel Bhutan to 20 for no loss at the end of four overs.
Gaur was instrumental in restricting hosts Malaysia to a total of 33-9 before the UAE's batters knocked off the target in four overs to set up a 9-wicket win at the UKM-YSD Cricket Oval.