India were held to a 1-1 draw by Malaysia in a friendly football match played at the Lal Bahadur stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

India had a chance to go ahead in the first half when a free-kick from Climax Lawrence just went over the bar.

Baichung Bhutia put India ahead in the 57th minute, scoring from a deflection by Sunil Chhetri, while Indra Putra scored the equalizer for Malaysia from a penalty, awarded by referee S Suresh in the 80th minute after a foul by Anwar inside the box.

Malaysia maintained pressure in the last fifteen minutes of the match but failed to break the deadlock.

In his post-match comments, India coach Bob Houghton said it was a good match from the technical point of view as he was able to play Surkumar Singh and K Ajayan.

He said Malaysia was a good opposition and played a technically very competitive game.

• Complete football coverage