Despite the stars, Delhi fail to make it past MP

When big names play in domestic tournaments for their states, there’s often a tendency for the players to get a bit carried away, just show people that they are a notch above their teammates. The Delhi team understood that today when they lost to Madhya Pradesh by a solitary goal in their Cluster II match of the Santosh Trophy here today.

With the names they had in their line-up — Sunil Chhetri, Sumit Thapa, Rajat Guha and Rishi Kapoor — Delhi were expected to steamroll their opponents. Moreso, after having drubbed Gujarat 6-0 in the opening encounter. But the MP team, playing mainly with CRPF men, managed to hold their own with some disciplined defending, while the hosts had only themselves to blame. On the other hand, Delhi’s stars — regulars with clubs like Mohun Bagan and Salgaocar — missed a bucketful of chances. MP ’keeper S D Shyam was also brilliant under the bar with a series of brilliant saves that kept Chhetri at bay. Delhi coach Sukhpal later admitted: ‘‘When there are senior players in the ranks, they are bound to play their own special game in the middle.’’

MP played to their strengths, defending well and taking their chances on counter-attacks. ‘‘We had a definite plan for Chhetri and Thapa, and played as a team,’’ said proud MP captain Nobin Singh.

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The lone goal scored by Sonu Razak in the 17th minute, and the mistakes by Delhi only increased after that. ‘‘We are a young team, and everyone was excited to score the equaliser. That caused some mistakes and increased the pressure,’’ Sukhpal asserted.

The result has opened up the cluster, with MP, Delhi and Gujarat tied on three points.