India made a great start in the opening encounter at the AFC Asian Cup campaign defeating Thailand 4-1 at Abu Dhabi today.

Indian captain Sunil Chettri scored twice, while Anirudh Thapa and Jeje were other scorers for India. Chettri's first goal came in the 27th minute when he converted a penalty shot.

It was Chhetri 's  66th international goal as he took his time and then smashed home the penalty to hand India the lead.

After Chhetri put India ahead, Thailand recovered quickly as Dangda levelled the scores to make it 1-1 five minutes later. At halftime, India and Thailand were at level score of one goal each.

Sunil Chhetri scored another in the 46th minute, just after the play began after the halftime to give his side the 2-1 lead.

Anirudh Thapa scored again in the 68th minute for India to make it 3-1. Jeje scored the fourth goal for India in the 80th minute of the game.

This is India's fourth Asian Cup appearance, having last appeared in the 2011 edition of the tournament.