Sachin Tendulkar will be in the visitors' gallery to watch the Bahrain Grand Prix scheduled to be held next month.
Up against the 91st-ranked Bahrain, Stimac's side, which is currently placed at 104 in the FIFA rankings, found the going tough from the word go and, had it not been for a fine save by skipper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the Indians would have trailed by a bigger margin at half time.
Protesters blocked several roads and police fired teargas at a school in Bahrain on Sunday, activists said, as the Gulf state staged a Formula One race promoted by the government as pure sport but seen by the opposition as a public relations stunt.
An Indian man was killed and another injured as five explosions rocked parts of Bahrain's capital Manama on Monday, also claiming the life of another Asian, as the country grappled with growing political and ethnic unrest.
Here are some of the best images from across the globe in the last 24 hours.
These 19th-century Victorian Gothic buildings lie to the east of the Oval Maidan in Mumbai.
Organisers have rejected calls from human rights groups to cancel Sunday's race because of what activists see as continuing political repression. The cars take to the track again on Saturday for practice and qualifying sessions.
When the novel coronavirus outbreak hit China in late December and January, the government sprang into crisis mode. Hard-hit cities like Wuhan, where the outbreak began, went into complete lockdown. Millions worked from home or self-quarantined for weeks on end. New hospitals were built in a matter of days to treat the sheer number of patients. People who broke quarantine rules or lied about their travel history were detained. Soon, the virus spread over the globe, with many countries banning movement of citizens to some ordering sanitisation of public spaces. Take a look.
Sahara Force India registered their best qualifying performance this season with Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil setting the seventh and eighth fastest times at the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix in Manama on Saturday.
The Force India Formula One team vanished from television screens for the second day in a row at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday, triggering speculation that they had been punished for pulling out of Friday practice.
The government hopes to use the Grand Prix as a way of showing that life is back to normal after a democracy movement launched an Arab Spring-inspired uprising last year.
A Force India Formula One team employee has been allowed to return home from Bahrain after expressing safety fears ahead of this weekend's controversial Grand Prix.
Former Indonesia caretaker coach Aji Santoso has been banned for four games for suggestions of bribery to match officials in a humiliating 10-0 World Cup qualifying defeat by Bahrain in February, local media reported on Wednesday.
Former world champion Damon Hill has spoken out in favour of Formula One returning to Bahrain this year despite continuing civil unrest in the Gulf kingdom.
Paul di Resta delivered his best result of the 2012 season by earning eight points for Sahara Force India with a sixth place finish while Nico Hulkenberg ended 12th at the Bahrain Grand Prix, in Manama on Sunday.
India on Monday told Bahrain that terrorism emanating from Pakistan remains its most important concern and support from across the border has incited the current unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.
Wary of uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, military troops and security forces backed by tanks on Wednesday cracked down to clear the landmark Pearl Square in Manama, a day after country's Sunni rulers clamped martial law in the violence-wracked gulf kingdom. An official statement read out on television said that the king had authorised the commander of Bahrain's defence forces to take all necessary measures to protect the safety of the country and its citizens.
Latest reports from Bahrain speak of considerable tension marked by anti-king and anti-government slogans shouted by thousands of Shia mourners.
Though India is not a member of the G-7 grouping, Modi has been personally invited by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, army and riot police on Wednesday cracked down on anti-government protesters driving them out from a landmark square in the heart of Manama leaving at least six people dead, witnesses and officials said.
Determined not to let Pearl Square turn into another Tahrir Square, authorities in Bahrain reacted with force on pro-reform protestors who had gathered at the main square in Bahraini capital Manama.
Renault have accused rivals McLaren of opening up a Formula One arms race with their controversial rear wing even though it has been ruled legal by the sport's governing body. The McLaren car passed inspections on Thursday at the Sakhir circuit and the team said they consulted the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) throughout the design process.
India's Formula One debutant Karun Chandhok, who got his super licence on Sunday, says he'd like to see seven-times champion Michael Schumacher beat Hamilton this season.
Karun Chandhok has no illusions about what awaits him this weekend when India's sole Formula One driver makes his debut barely a week after sealing the deal. His new Spanish-based HRT team, formerly Campos Meta, have not even conducted a shakedown test of the Cosworth-powered car after narrowly winning a race just to get it ready for the Bahrain season-opener.
Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this eye-catching photo feature.
Justice Mukul Mudgal was on Thursday elected as head of FIFA's governance committee at the world football governing body's 67th Congress in Bahrain's capital city of Manama.
Australia had one foot in next year's World Cup finals in South Africa after beating Uzbekistan 2-0 on Wednesday, while South Korea scored a late winner to down rivals North Korea 1-0 and wrestle back their Group Two lead.
Japan coach Takeshi Okada tore into his side after their shock 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat by Bahrain, describing the loss as a ''nightmare scenario.'' Ala'a Hubail's 77th-minute header gave Bahrain an upset victory in yesterday's game in Manama, sending the home side top of Group Two and leaving Japan three points off the pace.
During an Abu Dhabi meeting on labour export in January, Bahrain Labour Minister Majeed Al Alawi had met Indian Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vyalar Ravi, who had called on Bahrain to sign the MoU as other Gulf nations, including the UAE, had inked similar agreements. India was this month forced to put on hold a proposed measure which disallowed its unskilled workers to leave for Bahrain unless they had contracts from employers.
Mick Schumacher, son of seven times world champion Michael, made his Formula One test debut with Ferrari on Tuesday at the Bahrain circuit, where 15 years ago his father won the first Grand Prix in the Middle East.
India is ready, after battling the pandemic for two years, to travel once again.
Fourteen Indians aboard cruise vessel MSV Sri Krishna Sagar, which sank in international waters off Iraq on December 27, are feared dead, according to sources.
The huge Indian community in the capital Manama paid tribute to those who died in the Gudaibiya labour camp blaze during a memorial meeting on the first anniversary of the tragedy on Monday night.
The bodies of 16 Indians, who had perished in the July 30 fire accident at Manama in Bahrain, reached Chennai on Wednesday in a Gulf Air flight.
Suresh had been hospitalised after meeting with an accident at his workplace. He was finally taken off the ventilator on Saturday after being declared dead.
Dempo revived their chances of making it to the knockout phase of the AFC Cup with a 2-1 victory over Bahrain league champions Al Muharraq in their Group A match at the National Stadium near Manama on Wednesday. It was sweet revenge for the I-League champions, who lost 0-4 at home to the same opponents on April 2. They now have six points from four matches.
Sushant Mathew's goal enabled the Mumbai side snatch a 1-1 draw with the Bahrain giants in the AFC Cup football tournament.
The world champion finished ahead of Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen.
The former world billiards champion registered a 5-3 win over Delhi's Harpreet Singh at the BPCL-ONGC 9-ball Pool Nationals.
The condition of three injured Indians, being treated in a government hospital in Manama, was satisfactory.
