The Indians have stepped up to fill in the shoes of the injured foreigners...
Manolo Marquez was in a predicament, going into Hyderabad FC's encounter against Jamshedpur FC on Wednesday evening.
He could field only three overseas players in the starting line-up against Jamshedpur after Lluis Sastre, Joel Chianese and Francisco Sandaza were sidelined with injuries.
In such a circumstance, the manager could have whined about the situation and cursed his luck. It would've been understandable. But the Barcelona-born tactician took the challenge head-on and dealt with it like a professional. In the absence of his regulars, he put his trust in his young domestic talent and they delivered.
Akash Mishra is playing his debut season in the Indian Super League (ISL), but the young left-back has already been a revelation and did pretty well against a more experienced campaigner like Jackichand Singh. In fact, Owen Coyle took Jacki off at the hour-mark as he was not able to make an impact on the match.
Mishra's Indian Arrows senior Asish Rai also played with elan on the opposite flank. He looked solid defensively and also provided support to Liston Colaco in attack with his overlapping runs. In fact, he could have well ended up on the scoresheet if he had shown better decision-making skills as he was late in pulling the trigger in a one-on-one against Pawan Kumar.
But the two best Indian players on the pitch were undoubtedly Halicharan Narzary and Mohammed Yasir. Both players worked tirelessly on the pitch and were inventive in the attacking third which troubled a shaky Jamshedpur defence.
Narzary's pace on the left flank troubled Laldinliana Renthlei. The India international would often cut inside from the wide areas and have a crack at goal or set up a cross for a prolific Aridane Santana. It was one such shot from Narzary which was pushed onto Santana's path by Pawan Kumar that resulted in Hyderabad taking the lead.
If the 26-year-old winger had luck on his side he could have opened his goalscoring account much earlier, only to be denied by the woodwork.
Meanwhile, his teammate Yasir also stepped up on the occasion and put in one of the best displays of his career so far. It is not often that you see an Indian in the number 10 role in an ISL match but the young midfielder hardly put a step wrong. He was allowed the freedom to drift wide and one he had the ball in the flanks he would swing it inside the box targetting Santana.
He brought cohesion and composure in Hyderbad's midfield and was also not afraid to try his luck from distance when he was getting a glimpse at goal. His understanding with Narzary and Colaco reflected on the pitch as they would often swap positions which bothered Jamshedpur's backline.
Without a proper preseason, most teams have been plagued by injuries and Hyderabad have been the worst hit. In times of crisis, a team's character comes to the forefront and Marquez's men have stood up to the task. Credit must be given to the manager who has rallied behind his troops.