Team India were down 4-1 at half time but played fearlessly in the second period and in the end managed to draw the second half.
Gouramangi Moirangthem and Sunil Chhetri were the goal scorers for India while striker Ismaeel Abdul Latif bagged four goals and was undoubtedly the man of the match.
Bahrain's other goal was scored by Faouzi Aaish, who also got sent off after receiving two yellow cards.
India made two changes from the game against Australia as Abhishek Yadav and Renedy Singh made their way in for Mohammed Rafi and Deepak Mandal. The big news for Bahrain was that skipper Salman Isa was starting after missing their Group C opener against South Korea.
The first chance of the game went to India as Climax Lawrence found Sunil Chhetri with a super ball which the diminutive striker volleyed only to see the rival goalkeeper Mahmood Mansoor palm it for a corner as early as in the third minute.
Three minutes later, the Indian skipper hacked down Faouzi Aaish inside the box which left referee Mohd. Salleh no option but to point to the spot. The Moroccan born midfielder coolly converted the penalty by sending Subrata Paul the other side.
It took a minute for India to produce an equalizer and thus score their first goal in the Asian Cup ever since 1964. Renedy Singh’s free-kick from the middle of the park was headed across the face of the goal by Abhishek Yadav to see Gouramangi Moirangthem find the back of the net.
The match was being played at a blistering pace with end-to-end stuff as the two teams looked to attack and have an edge over the other early on. The combination of Aaish and Isa were too hot to handle for Steven Dias and Surkumar Singh as the Bahraini duo constantly went upfront at every opportunity.
Aaish sent in a cross into the six yard area which Jaycee John had a half attempt from to see Subrata Paul use his feet to stop the danger. The rebound fell for Abdulatif who placed it to make it 2-1.
In the 19th minute, Jaycee John fed Abdulatif as the Indian defence went to sleep with the latter having to tap it in from six yards distance.
Indians lost the zeal and passion with which they played in the opening minutes as Salman Sharida’s men looked to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Aaish continued his dominance on the right over Surkumar and Steven as it was from his ball that Abdulatif completed his hat-trick to be the first to do so in the current edition of the Asian Cup.
The first half ended with the same scoreline as the Indians had Subrata Paul to rescue them on a couple of occasions against Abdulla Dakeel and Jaycee John.
After the break the first opportunity befell the Indians as Renedy Singh stealed the ball from Abdulla Omar to launch a fierce left footer which hit the underside of the post to fall beyond the goal-line and come out to see Abhishek hit the rebound on the woodwork. Chhetri was at hand to do the needful and thereby bring India back into the match.
Subrata Paul literally gifted the ball to Jaycee John from a clearance as the striker showed an equally lackadaisical attitude to send it wide.
Salmeen Isa barged down the right flank unchallenged to test Subrata Paul as the Indian custodian saved the danger to concede a corner.
Chhetri makes space for himself by cutting inside and thereby unleashing a left footer which missed the target by not much.
Faouzi Aaish earned himself two yellow cards in the space of three minutes to head back into the dressing room as on the first occasion, he had his studs up against Climax and later, dived inside the Indian penalty box.
Despite going a man down, Bahrain showed great character and kept poking into the rival half and were rewarded for the same when Abdulatif made the most of Anwar taking ages to react to score his fourth goal of the evening.
Climax Lawrence had a decent attempt on goal from 25 yards which saw Mahmood Mansoor jumped to keep the ball from going in and conceded a corner.
India couldn't cause any damage from the corner and in the dying stages Bahrain slowed the game down by keeping the ball well and denying the Indians any chance to score the third.
It ended 5-2 and this result keeps Bahrain very much in contention for a quarter-final place but for that to happen they would have to beat Australia in their final game of the group.
India cannot reach the last eight but they were not expected to do that and the players can be proud of themselves again after giving the West Asian side a real fight.
They end their campaign against South Korea and once again the aim will be to come up with a strong performance and not worry about the result and scoreline.
But that is a topic to be discussed some other day, for now let's give Team India credit for another fighting display.
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