India and Oman ended their preparatory friendly ahead of the AFC Asian Cup in a goalless draw on Thursday at the Baniyas Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The Blue Tigers' display of resilience brought Oman's three-game winning run to a halt as both sides looked to get much-needed minutes under their belt before the big tournament that starts on January 5, 2018.
Sunil Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua started upfront with the support of Udanta Singh and Halicharan Narzary from the flanks. Pronay Halder and Anas Edathodika, who had been struggling with fitness, started the match in midfield and at centre-back respectively.
Sandesh Jhingan partnered his Kerala Blasters teammate in defence and Subhasish Bose and Pritam Kotal flanked the pair. Anirudh Thapa partnered Halder in midfield and Amrinder Singh beat Gurpreet Singh to a starting berth in between the sticks.
Oman looked to attack from the get-go and almost took the lead in the seventh minute but Amrinder Singh pulled off a good save to keep the scores unchanged.
Sunil Chhetri's long-range strike sailed over the bar as India looked to get into the match. The Blue Tigers were restricted to half-chances but also kept Oman attack at bay at the other end.
Pronay Halder was replaced by Germanpreet Singh at the break. Balwant and Gurpreet also joined the fray for the second half.
Ashique Kuruniyan impressed on the wings with runs at the opposition's defence as the game wore on. Balwant met his cross from the left in the 77th minute and laid it off for Udanta whose shot flew just inches wide. A minute later, the Kerala-born winger delivered another excellent cross that Balwant headed over the bar.
Neither team managed to find the net but India put up a promising show.
