Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac on Monday announced the final list of 25 players who will travel to Bahrain for the forthcoming back-to-back international friendlies.
The Blue Tigers are scheduled to play Bahrain on March 23, and Belarus on March 26. Both matches will kick-off at IST 9.30 pm.
NorthEast United forward V.P Suhair is one of the seven players who have received their maiden call-up to the senior team. The others are Prabhshukhan Gill, Hormipam Ruivah, Anwar Ali, Roshan Singh, Danish Farooq, and Aniket Yadav.
“We are playing Bahrain and Belarus, and they are better-ranked sides than us. But whatever the rankings are, you need to do it on the pitch. Bahrain will show us where we stand," Igor Stimac said.
"We will give chances to some young players who have played well in the Hero ISL this season to see how much we can use them for the qualifiers in June,” he added.
The upcoming international friendlies are a part of the team’s preparation for the final round of the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 qualifying matches that will be held in Kolkata from June 8 onwards.
India have been clubbed alongside Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Cambodia in Group D. 24 teams have been divided into six groups and the group winners, and the five best second-placed teams will earn a ticket to the Asian Cup in China.
The final list of 25 players is as below:
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
Featured photo: AIFF Media
