The Indian coach expressed happiness that all players were fit. “Now, my difficulty is to locate two players whom I can rest,” he wondered. On why V Raghunath was not being utilised, Bansal said, “How can I have three drag-flickers on the field? Both Sandeep Singh and Diwakar Ram select themselves on merit. I really face problems in making choices. All the 18 players are in good nick.”

Sounding a word of caution, manager Pargat Singh said the Indian midfield should get its act together against the hosts. “My concern is the midfield. We easily cave in and offer much leeway to the attackers due to weak midfield. Unless the players understand this, things can go wrong against a team like Malaysia,” he said.