In other words, they did not press home the advantage. So much so, the game was played in a real friendly atmosphere and the lanky IM Vijayan was seen tying the shoe laces of one-armed Delhi boy Mohd Mobin and patted him in affection before running to tackle an attack.

Following a 17-day camp at Patiala, the Indian team looked confident and raring to go. India play their opening match against Pakistan, whom they have recently beaten in Goa during the SAFF championship. Nepal and Bhutan are the other teams in India's group, with the host nation posing serious threat to them, if National coach Sukhwinder Singh is to be believed. The other group has Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bangladesh.

Fresh from the title-triumph in Goa, the morale of the team was definitely high in the Indian camp but Sukhwinder is not taking things lightly. Bangladesh and Maldives too, according to him, are dangerous sides and India cannot afford to relax against them.

Since the team is leaving tomorrow morning, they get three days to acclimatise before taking on Pakistan on September 26. The Indian side has four youngsters -- Prabhjot Mandal, Daljit Singh, Mahesh Gawli and Noel Wilson -- apart from seasoned stars like IM Vijayan, Jo Paul Ancheri, Bruno Coutinho, Sabir Pasha and Prashanta Dora. Virender Singh, Deepak Mandal, Raman Vijayan, Robert Fernades, Jules Alberto, Ranjan Dey, Basudeb Mondal, KV Dhanesh, Hardip Singh Sanga, Kalyan Choubey and M. Najeeb are the other members of the team.

Coming back to today's friendly, despite their loose and casual game, the Indian team prevailed over Delhi XI with former India captain Bruno Coutinho opening the account in the 35th minute and Sabir Pasha adding two in the 79th and 90th minutes. Mahesh Bisht reduced the margin for Delhi XI in the 37th minute.

For a change, the Delhi side raised the standard of game and all players including Shastri's goalkeeper Javed Khan, who bravely stood under the bar, seemed to run an awesome form. A visibly impressed former India captain IM Vijayan was seen praising the boys for their efforts before giving some vital tips to them.