Khalid Jamil’s India project losing direction as New Zealand exposes familiar flaws

The 90 minutes on Thursday highlighted the massive gulf between the two nations, and it’s hard to pick out any player from the SAFF Championship group who could make a difference to this group.

Updated : Nov 12, 2026 17:55 IST , Chennai - 4 MINS READ

FILE PHOTO: India’s head coach Khalid Jamil had picked 10 fresh faces in the squad to face the All Whites twice this week. | Photo Credit: KR DEEPAK

The chastening 5-0 reverse at the hands of New Zealand in Auckland added another chapter to a familiar feeling for India, seemingly caught in a ground-hog day.

Let’s call this tour what it is. These were two friendlies arranged to mark the two nations entering into a Free Trade Agreement this year. On the football pitch, it might prove beneficial only for the home nation. The visiting Indian team, keeping with the theme of the bilateral pact, made life extremely comfortable for New Zealand, which bullied Khalid Jamil’s men.

Veteran Chris Wood got to end his year-long goal drought, the All Whites could blood in younger players and Darren Bazeley, who is stepping down from the role of head coach next week, could end his four-year stint with handsome victories.

While a result against this New Zealand side seemed far-fetched, what didn’t help was India shooting its own foot in the first outing on Thursday with its porous defensive set-up. Jamil’s 4-2-3-1 shape massively exposed its weak midfield, which had the diminutive Anirudh Thapa and Lalremtluanga Fanai, playing only his second senior game.

The 90 minutes highlighted the massive gulf between the two nations in skill, physicality and footballing acumen. India didn’t possess the ability to either play out from the back or retain possession, leading to an onslaught of attack into its penalty box.

This was a squad which was pieced together due to injuries to key players like Anwar Ali, Lalengmawia Ralte and Sahal Abdul Samad. The 10 newcomers in the squad tallied a combined 71 senior appearances, with only three players registering double-digit caps. Thapa, who was out of the national team picture for close to two years, is now the senior-most player in the squad and is the captain.

Even as India had dual duties in this international window, it’s hard to pick out any player from the SAFF Championship group who could make a difference to this group.

In the three high-profile friendlies at home in October against Panama, Brazil and Uruguay, six of the 11 goals India conceded came down the right side. Jamil seemingly has not addressed the issue as four of the five came down the same side here.

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Winger Jesse Randall, who scored two and assisted the opening goal, couldn’t have had an easier outing than he did against fullback Abhishek Singh, who was repeatedly caught out of position and outnumbered down the right flank. Rookie centre-backs Bijoy Varghese and Pramveer Singh had a forgetful 45 minutes at the heart of India’s defence.

The only redeeming factor for India was the return of Vishal Kaith as the starting goalkeeper, vindicating Jamil’s decision to drop the out of sorts Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. His replacement Kaith made key saves, timing his runs off the line to thwart Randall and Wood, while also making a penalty save to keep the tally to just five.

With each passing game, Jamil’s appointment at the start of last July, appears to have come six years too late. The ideal time for the Indian to have taken over would have been from Stephen Constantine, who had built the team in a way which mirrored Jamil’s philosophy in 2019. In 2026, Jamil appears to be caught in a fix where his style doesn’t suit the current generation of Indian footballers coming through.

Full-time in Auckland. #NZLIND #BlueTigers #IndianFootball https://t.co/32ztdLxAQS

— Indian Football (@IndianFootball) November 12, 2026

While there was promise early on with some clear ideas in place, his limitations have been laid bare this year. In the nine matches he has coached this year, India has won just once against Hong Kong, while losing six of them. The aggregate scoreline in these nine matches currently stands at 6–24 compared to the 5-9 scoreline in the seven matches in 2025 with a solitary win.

Jamil only has just two days to rectify some glaring flaws, otherwise even Kaith wouldn’t be able to mitigate another pending disaster. After Sunday, the AIFF will have to make a call on whether Jamil is the right man to steer India into another World Cup-Asian Cup qualification cycle.

But having burnt a hole in its coffers with a series of poor decisions of its own (struggling to pay out the ₹90 crore for the October friendlies), the federation doesn’t really have any choice in finding an alternative.

Published on Nov 12, 2026

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