Head coach Igor Stimac announced a provisional squad of 41 players for the senior men’s national team set to participate in the Hero Intercontinental Cup and 2023 SAFF Championship next month. The camp is set to get underway in Bhubaneswar on 15 May 2023 for the tournaments which will serve as preparations for the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar next year. The Hero Intercontinental Cup will take place in the capital city of Odisha before India begins their SAFF Championship journey in Bengaluru in late June.
The Blue Tigers made a winning start to 2023 with victories over Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic in the Tri-nation Cup in March. Hosted in Imphal, India kept clean sheets in both the games and registered their fifth straight win on home turf with a 2-0 victory over Kyrgyz after defeating Myanmar 1-0. Stimac’s side will like to keep the streak going while facing Lebanon, Vanuatu and Mongolia in the Intercontinental Cup and then battling the South Asian counterparts on home soil.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Vishal Kaith, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Phurba Lachenpa Tempa, Amrinder Singh.
Defenders: Subhasish Bose, Pritam Kotal, Asish Rai, Sandesh Jhingan, Naorem Roshan Singh, Anwar Ali, Akash Mishra, Chinglensana Konsham, Mehtab Singh, Rahul Bheke, Narender Gahlot.
Midfielders: Liston Colaco, Ashique Kuruniyan, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Rohit Kumar, Udanta Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Glan Martins, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Yasir Mohammad, Ritwik Das, Jeakson Singh, Sahal Abdul Samad, Rahul KP, Lalengmawia Ralte, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Bipin Singh, Rowllin Borges, Vikram Partap Singh, Nandha Kumar, Jerry Mawihmingthanga.
Forwards: Manvir Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Sivasakthi Narayanan, Rahim Ali, Ishan Pandita.
Head Coach: Igor Stimac
Vishal Kaith, Asish Rai, Chinglensana Konsham, Narender Gahlot, Liston Colaco, Ashique Kuruniyan, Nikhil Poojary, Lalengmawia Ralte, Rowllin Borges, Vikram Partap Singh, Nandha Kumar, Jerry Mawihmingthanga and Rahim Ali has been called up to the provisional squad of the national team after missing out the previous friendlies due to injuries or other reasons. Sivasakthi Narayanan was in the final 23-man squad for the Tri-nation Cup in March but pulled out of the tournament with a facial injury in the ISL final only days before. The Bengaluru FC forward will look forward to finally making his debut in country colours in his second call-up to the camp. Nandha Kumar and Jerry Mawihmingthanga are also willing to make the final squad to earn their first cap for India after winning the Hero Super Cup with Odisha FC last month.
