Head coach Igor Stimac announced the 25 men's squad of the Indian national team from an initial 38 to compete in the upcoming friendlies against Bahrain and Belarus. There are 7 new faces called up this time. These friendlies will serve as a warmup game for the Asian Cup qualifiers final round in June in Kolkata.
Squad :
GOALKEEPERS: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Prabhsukhan Gill.
DEFENDERS: Pritam Kotal, Seriton Fernandes, Rahul Bheke, Hormipam Ruivah, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Chinglensana Singh, Subhasish Bose, Akash Mishra, Roshan Singh.
MIDFIELDERS: Bipin Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Pronay Halder, Jeakson Singh, Brandon Fernandes, VP Suhair, Danish Farooq, Yasir Mohammad, Aniket Jadhav.
FORWARDS: Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, Rahim Ali.
Captain and talisman Sunil Chettri won't be part of the group after suffering an injury during the ISL season. Sahal Abdul Samad also adds himself to the sideline after picking up an injury towards the end of the ISL campaign.
So, the responsibility falls to the ATK Mohun Bagan pair upfront to come up with goods. Liston Colaco had a fine debut season with the Kolkata side after joining them last year with eight goals while Manvir had another productive season in ISL. The 26-year-old also struck twice for the national team in 2021. Rahim Ali is the only one who can play as a recognisable no 9 in the team and has five senior caps under his belt so far. He has scored at the other age level he has played so will be wishing to get his debut goal for the national team.
Prabhsukan Gill, Hormipam Ruivah, Anwar Ali, Roshan Singh, Danish Farooq, VP Suhair and Aniket Jadav are seven new players part of the final squad. Gill kept the most number of clean sheets in the recently concluded ISL season with seven. Kerala Blasters suffered disappointment in the final but Gill has been one of the standout players to get them to this stage. His teammate Hormipam has been one of the rising stars in Indian football. The centre back proved to be equally solid as his keeper after joining Punjab FC in the I league.
Stimac has expressed his delight in seeing Roshan Singh delivering inch-perfect crosses inside the box from fullback. Capable of playing in both flanks, Naorem received ISL's emerging player of the year award for his exploits with Bengaluru FC. Danish Farooq has also been productive for the club after enhancing his reputation with Real Kashmir. VP Suhair's call up is not a surprise considering his class display for a few seasons now. After winning the I league with Mohun Bagan in 2020, he has produced his enormous work rate for NorthEast United in the ISL. Aniket Jadav has marshalled the left-hand side for the ISL champions Hyderabad FC.
However, the national team call up will matter most to Anwar Ali. After being barred by AIFF from playing any competitive matches in 2019 due to his rare heart condition, Anwar was able to compete in this season's ISL with FC Goa. The talent that scored an outrageous free-kick in the historic win over Argentina at the U20 level is now knocking on the door for a senior debut sooner than later. Laxmikant Kattimani misses out despite saving three penalties shootout of the ISL final.
Fixtures :
1. Vs Bahrain (Wednesday, 23rd March)
2. Vs Belarus (Saturday, 26th March)
All matches kick-off at 21:30 (IST)
India faces a familiar foe Bahrain in the first friendly game on Wednesday. The nation from the Middle East eliminated the Blue Tigers from the 2019 Asian Cup with a last-minute penalty that took them through. The memories of that evening are still alive in the fans. Bahrain are unbeaten in five of their last six games which includes a 1-1 draw with Ukraine. India has also failed to register a win against them since their first meeting in 1982.
Although Belarus is below Bahrain on the FIFA rankings, they can pose a stiffer challenge on India. They have lost seven straight games but in those, they have managed to trouble nations like Wales and even the highest-ranked team Belgium. India will meet them for the first time on the International stage.
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