Indian defender Nirmal Chettry was hopeful of adding another Saff Championship to the list of trophies teams of his have won, but was not taking Bangladesh lightly.
Speaking at a practice session yesterday, Nirmal said, “We are looking forward to playing in it and winning. I have already won two Saff championships (2009 and 2011) and I hope to win this too. Hopefully we will give 100% and we are all looking forward to this tournament as there are not many later.” said Chettry who originated from Nepal.
The veteran defender, who originally came from Nepal, assessed Bangladesh’s performance against Nepal and looked ahead to India’s match against them.
“Bangladesh looked good and maybe failed to implement their plans. We are ready for a different Bangladesh when we play against them. They tried to implement some strategy but was unable we are not taking Bangladesh as an easy opponent. They have a Dutch coaching staff and they will put the best to stop us. I have played against Bangladesh back in 2007 and this side looked like an improved side.
“Bangladesh will come harder against us. You may say that we rode on the luck to beat Pakistan but my point of view that at the same time we are also unlucky because we missed a couple of chances also. If we would have availed them, the story would be different.”
Nirmal was well aware that a win would see India through to the semi-finals. “We have to keep the momentum up as we have the chance to keep the pressure off before the last game against hosts. If we win, the pressure would be on the hosts, so we have to win at any cost.”
