Defending champions India will open their campaign at the South Asian Football Federation Championship against Pakistan in Kathmandu on September 1.
India, ranked 146th in the world, have been placed in Group A alongside hosts and last edition semi-finalists Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the biennial event.
Last edition runners-up and highest ranked team in the tournament, Afghanistan (140th), 2008 edition champions the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bhutan form Group B in the September 1 to 11 event.
India, who haven’t been able to play an international match for some time, are lucky to have escaped from being clubbed either with Afghanistan or Maldives, the two strong sides in the tournament.
In the 2011 edition, Afghanistan drew with India 1-1 in the group stage though they lost in the final. Maldives are the fourth highest-ranked team at 154th.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals to be played on September 8.
The final is slated for September 11.
The winners of the tournament will draw a prize purse of $50,000 while the runners-up with pocket $25,000. The two losing semi-finalists will get $10,000 each.
Before the SAFF Championships, India will get to play an international friendly against Tajikistan on August 14 in Dushanbe.
AIFF director, national teams, Shubankar Mukherjee said that it won’t be an easy road for India. “It’s a tough draw. You have three good teams in Group A. Ideally we should have played more (friendly) matches before this tournament. We wanted Tajikistan to play two games but they did not have time. What do you do?” Mukherjee said.
The last time India played an international friendly was five months ago in February, when they lost 2-4 to Palestine in Kochi.