Suhail Ahmad Bhat struck a brace as defending champions India began their SAFF Championships campaign with a 3-2 victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in a group match in Dhaka on Thursday. Bhat, who hails from Srinagar, scored in the 13th and 19th minutes while Manglenthang Kipgen struck in the 31st minute as India led 3-0 at half time. Pakistan scored two goals in the stoppage time to salvage some pride with Najeeb Ullah (90+1) and Alamgir Ghazi (90+4) finding the target in the Group B match played at the National Stadium here.
Bhat thought he had opened the scoring in the 12th minute after getting on the end of an aerial ball from Kipgen, but the goal was ruled out for offside. The forward from Jammu and Kashmir was not to be denied for long. A minute later, Muhammad Suhail collected the ball from a throw-in on the left and drove forward before delivering an inch-perfect ball into the penalty area. Bhat arrived at the six-yard box to turn it home and give India the lead. India doubled their advantage in the 19th minute, with Suryavanshi providing the assist. As Pakistan dropped deeper, the midfielder found himself further up the pitch and played a precise, line-breaking pass through the defence. Pakistan had an opportunity to reduce the deficit when Suryavanshi brought down Hayyaan Khattak from behind inside the penalty area. However, Shayak Dost sent the resulting spot-kick over the crossbar, allowing India to preserve their three-goal advantage. Bhat came close to completing his hat-trick just before half-time. Cutting in from the right in the 45th minute, he unleashed a left-footed effort from outside the box, but his shot went narrowly wide, with Butt rooted to the spot.
The Blue Tigers continued to find space behind the Pakistan defence and made it 3-0 in the 31st minute.
