India, Aug. 30 -- Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was the hero as Khalid Jamil began his tenure as India's head coach with a narrow 2-1 win vs Tajikistan in their opening fixture of the CAFA Nations Cup, on Friday. Defenders Anwar Ali and Sandesh Jhingan scored in the fifth and 13th minutes, respectively, as India defended for the remaining 75 minutes.

Tajikistan did pull one back in the 23rd minute, but it wasn't enough as they fell to a defeat. Shahroom Samiev scored for the opponents, beating Jhingan and shooting to the left of Gurpreet.

In the second half, Tajikistan earned a penalty after a wave of attacks, when Vikram Pratap fouled striker Rustam Soirov, who fell inside the box. But Gurpreet had the last laugh, as he dived to his right and ...