CHENNAI, February 10: They are the whipping boys of this year's edition. Indian Bank, Chennai and Mahindras, Mumbai, the bottom placed teams, have a chance to redeem their position and pride, when they meet in the Philips National Football League match at the Nehru stadium on Wednesday.The local team, with seven points from nine matches, are better placed than Mahindras, who have five from 10 matches.
Indian Bank's record against Mahindras should make them an overwhelming favourite. They won both the legs in last year's edition and stamped their domination with a 2-0 verdict in the first leg this time. In between, they came out trumps when the teams met in the Rovers Cup. Evidently, the bankmen will not be short of confidence.
Indian Bank coach Albert Fernando, said a few shuffles are on the cards as V P Sathyan, who missed the last match against JCT, is still not fully fit. Mahendran, who bore the brunt admirably against JCT, is also carrying a nagging knee injury. Injuries apart, what seemed toperturb Fernando was in the inability of the strikers to cash in on the chances.
Sabir Pasha had a great game against JCT but on the whole looked a little starved of company. He could do with more promptings from the mid-field and Ismail Mahfooz's tearaway methods may well come handy.
Mahindras, with their new coach, the old warhorse Deryk de Souza, have had their ups and downs. They started with a 1-0 win against holders JCT, but could not ride on that confidence subsequently. Two draws, against Salgaocar and Air-India, was all they could manage.
Striker Khalid Jamil, the only international in the pack, has recovered from an attack of malaria and de Souza hopes to field him.
Not that the side is devoid of big names. Sanjay Rawal and Santosh Kashyap are the two faithful midfielders and their combined experience may well have a say.
De Souza hoped that the bunch, a heady mix of youth and experience, come out with something out of the ordinary to erase the `jinx' factor.
It may well boil down to acontest where the team which does a little more probing could take the honours.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
