Kathmandu, Sep 2 (PTI) The Indian men's football team played out a 1-1 draw against Nepal in an international friendly on Thursday with Anirudh Thapa finding the equaliser after the hosts grabbed the lead.

Anjan Bista scored for Nepal in the 36th minute before Thapa netted one for the visiting side at the Dashrath Stadium here.

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The two teams will play another friendly on September 5.

The matches kick start India's preparations for next month's SAFF Championships in Maldives.

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The five-team SAFF Championships will be held from October 3 to October 13 at the National Stadium in Male.

Besides India, the other participating teams are Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, hosts Maldives and Nepal.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)