Indian football team national coach Igor Stimac has named a list of 35 players who will be in contention for the upcoming international friendlies against Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) scheduled to be held in Dubai on March 25 and March 29, respectively.
.@stimac_igor names 3️⃣5️⃣-man list of probables for International Friendlies against Oman 🇴🇲 and UAE 🇦🇪
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) March 2, 2021
Read the statement here 👉 https://t.co/rvkQFf5jEY#BackTheBlue 💙 #BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/zWnUvVyWe4
10 new faces that have earned their maiden call up to the national squad, including Akash Mishra, Liston Colaco, and Ishan Pandita, for their commendable display in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-21 season.
Other notable inclusions in the squad are Ashutosh Mehta, Bipin Singh, Lalengmawia, Yasir Mohammed, Jeakson Singh, and Suresh Singh.
"We have kept 35 players in the list as a cushion in case any player picks up an injury during the ISL playoffs," said Stimac.
The Indian head coach further said that Brandon Fernandes, Rahul Bheke, Sahal Abdul Samad, and Asish Rai do not feature in the list as they recover from injuries.
The final list of 28 players will be announced after the ISL final on March 13. The Indian football team players will assemble in a preparatory camp in Dubai from March 15 onwards.
India last played against Oman as the Blue Tigers lost 1-0 in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier on November 19, 2019. While they were scheduled to resume their World Cup qualification campaign with a match against Qatar in March, it was eventually postponed due to the global virus. The qualifiers are now scheduled to resume in June, with India facing Qatar on June 3, Bangladesh on June 11, and Afghanistan on June 15.
Here's the 35-man Indian football team squad
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Dheeraj Singh, Vishal Kaith.
Defenders: Seriton Fernandes, Ashutosh Mehta, Akash Mishra, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Chinglensana Singh, Sarthak Golui, Adil Khan, Mandar Rao Dessai, Prabir Das, Mashoor Shereef.
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Rowllin Borges, Lalengmawia, Jeakson Singh, Raynier Fernandes, Anirudh Thapa, Bipin Singh, Yasir Mohammad, Suresh Singh, Liston Colaco, Halicharan Narzary, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Ashique Kuruniyan, Rahul KP, Hitesh Sharma, Farukh Choudhary.
Forwards: Manvir Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Ishan Pandita.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter/IndianFootball
