India brush aside Chinese Taipei 5-0 in Intercontinental Cup
Mumbai, June 2: Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick as India hammered an inexperienced Chinese Taipei 5-0 in the opening game of the four-nation Intercontinental Cup football tournament here on Friday.
The striker, now one short of playing his 100th game, took his tally of international goals to 59 at the Mumbai Football Arena.
The hosts, using the tournament as preparation for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup to be held in the UAE, controlled the game from the first touch. Udanta Singh and Pronoy Halder deservingly got India’s third and fifth goals with brilliant individual efforts.
India coach Stephen Constantine deployed four men in attack with Holicharan Nazary and Udanta running riot on the wings while Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua occupied the central spots.
The frontline was complemented by 20-year-old Anirudh Thapa and Halder with Chhetri getting three off his five first-half chances within the first 15 minutes.
India’s record goal-scorer could have struck in the third minute itself. Jeje played it through to Udanta on the right and he pulled it back for Chhetri, who however shot wide.
Chhetri came agonisingly close from a free-kick moments before getting his first goal, set up by Jeje’s threaded pass. Chhetri collected the ball, took a touch to beat his man before guiding it into the corner.
Jeje and youngster Thapa continued to orchestrate from the middle and sent Chhetri through again, but his shot was saved by the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Wen-Chieh Pan.
India continued to press and Chhetri rounded off a wonderful team goal in the 34th minute. Jeje played a one-two with Thapa in the box before laying it on to Chhetri, who buried the shot from a difficult angle. A few minutes later, the 33-year-old striker failed to beat trying to chip the rushing goalkeeper.
India were off to a flying start in the second half as well. Udanta broke free on the right in the 48th minute and got past a Taipei defender before curling a shot into the far corner.
India created many other attempts that were kept out by the Taipei backline before Chhetri got his hat-trick in the 61st minute. Right-back Subhasish Bose played Chhetri on goal and the Bengaluru FC forward dispatched it to the top corner.
India sealed the win with a screamer from midfielder Halder, who guided the ball over the defensive line and beyond the keeper from the edge of the box.
A deserved victory for India, but it came against a young side that was probably playing together for the first time in national colours.
Taipei attackers Chao-an-Chen and William Donkin still managed to skip past Indian defenders and get shots away on a couple of occasions. India will have to address the issue before they face Kenya and New Zealand, who may field young teams as well but will certainly offer better resistance.
Courtesy: Hindustan Times
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Rupee falls 5 paise to close at 89.94 against US dollar after RBI cuts repo rate
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee on Friday gave up its initial gains and settled for the day lower by 5 paise at 89.94 (provisional) against US dollar, after the Reserve Bank cut key benchmark interest rate for the first time in six months.
Forex traders said the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) rate cut will weigh on the rupee, but RBI's decision to purchase government bonds worth up to Rs 1 lakh crore through open market operations (OMO), combined with a USD 5 billion buy-sell swap, will support the local currency.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 89.85 against the US dollar and gained ground, touching 89.69 in morning deals, registering a 20-paise gain from its previous close.
After the RBI's monetary policy announcement, the rupee lost ground and fell to 90.06 against the American currency, a 16-paise decline from its previous close of 89.89. The currency is down almost 5 per cent against the dollar this year, the worst performer in Asia.
The local unit finally settled for the day lower by 5 paise at 89.94 (provisional) against the American currency.
"Beyond the rate cut, RBI's decision to purchase government bonds worth up to Rs 1 lakh crore through OMO, combined with a USD 5 billion buy-sell swap, marks a decisive effort to restore durable liquidity and stabilize currency markets after the rupee's sharp depreciation," said Sachin Bajaj, Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer, Axis Max Life Insurance.
The RBI on Friday cut the key benchmark interest rate for the first time in six months and took steps to boost liquidity to support a "goldilocks" economy amid high US tariffs.
Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the central bank does not target any band for the rupee in the forex market, and allows the domestic currency to find its own correct level.
"We don't target any price levels or any bands. We allow the markets to determine the prices. We believe that markets, especially in the long run, are very efficient. It's a very deep market," he said while replying to a question on rupee depreciation at a post-monetary policy press meet.
Malhotra said fluctuations in the market keep occurring, and the RBI's effort is always to reduce any abnormal or excessive volatility. "And that is what we will continue to endeavour," he added.
In its bi-monthly monetary policy, the RBI announced three-year USD/INR Buy Sell swaps of USD 5 billion this month. When asked if this is aimed at checking rupee depreciation, Malhotra said, "It is a liquidity measure. It is not to support the rupee".
The governor further said the country has sufficient foreign exchange reserves and that the current account is manageable, and that, given the strong fundamentals of the economy, the country should witness strong capital flows going forward.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 per cent lower at 98.96.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.02 per cent to USD 63.27 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 447.05 points to settle at 85,712.37, while the Nifty climbed 152.70 points to 26,186.45.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,944.19 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.
