India clubbed with Maldives, Sri Lanka

New Delhi, April 18: Seventime champions India have been drawn in Group B with the Maldives and Sri Lanka at the official draw of the 2018 Saff Cup football tournament.

In Group A, tournament hosts Bangladesh will go head- to- head with Nepal, Pakistan, and Bhutan.

The Saff Suzuki Cup, the region’s premier football tournament, will be played in Bangladesh from September 4 to 15 — marking the third time it has been staged in the country.

India have faced Maldives three times in the final defeating them in 1997 and 2009, when the event was last played in Dhaka.

In 2008, the Maldives got the better of India in what remains their sole success in the competition.

India are also the defending champions following their success in 2015, when they overcame Afghanistan in the final. The latter team are not competing this year having joined the Central Asian Football Association.

The Bangabandhu National Stadium will host all the matches.

Bangladesh will hope that the return of the Saff Cup to home turf will mean a second title. When the tournament was hosted there for the first time in 2003, they came up trumps, defeating Maldives on penalties in the final.

As well as winning a record seven times, India have been runners- up thrice.