Nikhil Mali, the 'goal-machine’ in Futsal football, failed to score in India’s recent exposure trip to Bahrain. The team played two exposure matches against Bahrain, the 75th-ranked team in Fifa-Futsal ranking and conceded defeats in both matches by four and three goals, respectively. 

Indian Futsal team has started preparation for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup qualifier to be held in Tajikistan from 7th to 11th October this year. India have been drawn alongside Tajikistan, Palestine and Myanmar.

But Nikhil, the captain of the national team did not sound worried about the defeats while speaking over the phone. He said, "Firstly, Bahrain is a strong team, ranked 75th in the world whereas we have been participating in this competition for the first time. Secondly, despite the loss we learned a lot of things and this will benefit us in the coming days.”

Nikhil revealed that the ground and the ball, used in Bahrain were fully different from the ground and the ball they are used to play in India. “Here in India, we play on wooden turf while there we played on synthetic turf which has better grip o the ball and the ball which was used is lighter than we use the ball here. The more important information we have got is that the Asian Cup qualifier will be played on the same ground and the same lighter ball will be used." 

He added, "So, if we do not get the scope of training with the new ball then it can be difficult to deliver our best. Simultaneously, we will be benefitted more if a few more exposure trips against strong countries like Bahrain can be organized.”