Kolkata/Guwahati, Friday, August 26, 2022: Kolkata’s Mohammedan Sporting (MDSP), the first ever Indian winners of the tournament and runners-up from last year, will look to seal a berth in the knockouts of the 131^st IndianOil Durand Cup, when they come up against the Indian Air Force Football Team (IAFFT) in a Group A clash at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) on Saturday afternoon.

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That game on Matchday 12 will be followed by a clash at Guwahati’s Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium between NorthEast United FC (NEUFC) and the Kerala Blasters, two sides still in search for their first win after two completed games.

Catch all 47 games of the 131^st IndianOil Durand Cup LIVE on:

• Live Telecast: Sports18 1 SD & HD, and Sports18 Khel
• Live Stream: VOOT
• Kick-off: Kick-off: FC Goa v Jamshedpur FC TODAY @ 6.00 pm (Aug 26, 2022)
• Kick-off: Mohammedan Sporting v Indian Air Force FT @ 3.00 pm (Aug 27, 2022) - Kick-off: NorthEast United FC v Kerala Blasters @ 6.00 pm (Aug 27, 2022)

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Mohammedan flying higher than Indian Air Force

Last year’s runners-up Mohammedan Sporting are actually flying higher than their Saturday opponents with two fluent wins over FC Goa and Jamshedpur FC in their opening games. Russian coach Andrei Chernyshov has been around with the club for a while now and has built a well-drilled all bases covered unit around Trinidadian Marcus Joseph, the undisputed talisman in the squad.

Marcus scored one in the first game against Goa and created two in the second against Jamshedpur, to reiterate his worth to the side. MDSP have also displayed admirable finishing skills and opportunism in front of goal, something that can be said about very few teams in the tournament.

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The Airmen will be surely up against it and the loss in particular to a young Goa side will hurt. They have talent up front however in players like Aqib and Prabhjot and will do well to play for pride given the top two now looks like a mountain to climb.

Kerala Blasters ahead of NorthEast United

The Group D evening game in Guwahati between the Kerala Blasters and NEUFC, has the former ahead on points thus far. The Blasters drew against Sudeva and went down to the Odhisa, while NEUFC were defeated soundly in both their games. Both teams have scored once but NEUFC have conceded nine to the Blasters three.

The above and evidence on the field does suggest that the Blasters are a sharper and more fighting unit, but NEUFC did well to come back from a potentially deflating 0-6 loss to Odhisa to show fight in their second game and also scored in the end, so they will take heart from that.

And from the fact that both are young and relatively inexperienced units although even there the Blasters have a slight edge. They will surely be playing for pride and avoid being wooden spooners in the group, so we can expect a competitive game of football.

Ticket Information

India’s leading entertainment destination BookMyShow has been roped in as exclusive ticketing partners for the 131st IndianOil Durand Cup.

Fans can book their tickets to all the league stage games of the tournament exclusively on www.bookmyshow.com.

In addition, Box Office services have already been made operational for fans in respective host cities.

The details are as follows:

For Group Stage GamesKolkata ongoing

VYBK GATE- 4A BOX OFFICE

17^th August onwards , 10 am - 5pm

Apart from this, match tickets for the three home teams in Kolkata will be sold and redeemed from respective clubs and stadiums concerned with the respective matches from Matchday 2

Guwahati ongoing

12th August onwards  SAI Box office, Paltan Bazar

10 am - 5pm

Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium

Gate - 1 Box office

10am - 5pm

Imphal ongoing 13th August  onwards Khuman Lampak Stadium

Gate - 1 & Gate - 2 Box Offices

Tentative timing - 8:30 am - 4:00pm (To be confirmed)

Above Box Offices will be operational throughout the Group Stage matches of respective cities.

Ticket prices

Guwahati - Rs 50, 100, 250

Imphal- Rs 50, 100, 300

Kolkata - Rs 50, 100, (200 only for VYBK)

BOX OFFICE will be dealing with Online redemption and Offline cash Sale

Broadcast & Live-stream details

Sports18 is available on the following service providers:

Voot is available to download for free on all mobile app stores and on Connected TVs.

About Durand Cup

A symbol of India’s football history and culture, the Durand Cup is Asia’s oldest and the world’s third oldest football tournament. Organized by the Indian Armed Forces, the Durand Cup has been the breeding ground for India’s best footballing talent, over the years.

The inaugural edition happened in Shimla in 1888, when it started off as an Army Cup, open only to the British Indian Army troops in India, but soon opened up to civilian teams. Named after its founder, Sir Mortimer Durand, Foreign Secretary of British India from 1884 to 1894, the iconic tournament reached its 130th edition in 2021. Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have been the most successful teams, winning the tournament 16 times each.

Contact:

Somit Biswas- 9873723210

Sandipa Ghosh- 9883016244

Avishek Banerjee- 96743 90713 (Guwahati)

Nirmalya Chatterjee- 9836206682 (Imphal)