Want to grab my chances with both my hands: Indian footballer Balwant Singh
Indian footballer Balwant Singh Hoshiarpur-born striker AFC Asian Cup qualifiers Macau Mauritius tri-nation series Football News
Noel D'Souza
https://www.mid-day.com/md-48.ico
Mid-day
If there's one player who has been hogging the limelight of late in Indian football, it's Balwant Singh. The Hoshiarpur-born striker, who scored a brace in India's AFC Asian Cup qualifiers against Macau on Tuesday

India striker Balwant Singh

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If there's one player who has been hogging the limelight of late in Indian football, it's Balwant Singh. The Hoshiarpur-born striker, who scored a brace in India's AFC Asian Cup qualifiers against Macau on Tuesday, also scored the winner against Mauritius in the tri-nation series last month. Singh, 30, wants to capitalise on his new-found confidence.

Coach support

"I've not played much for India. Now that I've got a chance, I am going to grab it with both my hands. Coach Stephen Constantine believed in me and my job was to deliver according to his expectations.

"I did my best and also received a lot of support from the entire team," Singh told mid-day yesterday. Crushing many naysayers who reckoned the Blue Tigers earned an easy win due to the failure of the hosts to bring out their A game, Singh added: "We didn't bother whether they played badly. They were playing very deep and it was very difficult to break through their defence. There was hardly any space created for us to operate." Shining in his resurgent spell, Singh credited his time working under coach Sanjoy Sen during his stint with I-League club Mohun Bagan. "I grew in confidence playing for Mohun Bagan. Sanjoy sir instilled confidence and gave me plenty of game time," he said.

Singh was the first Indian to score in Indian Super League history (against FC Goa in 2014 when he was playing for Chennaiyin FC). Now plying his trade for Mumbai City FC, the striker feels there won't be any pressure to deliver in the ISL 4.

'India stint will help

"On the contrary I will be even more confident because I've been playing well for the country. As a striker if I'm scoring then there won't be any pressure," he said.