Prabhsukhan Gill, Hormipam Ruivah, Roshan Singh, Anwar Ali, VP Suhair, Danish Farooq and Aniket Jadhav have received first call-up for the senior team.
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Indian men’s football team head coach Igor Stimac has announced a 25-member squad for the upcoming international friendlies in Bahrain. Seven new players have been included in the squad that will take on Bahrain and Belarus on March 23 and 26 respectively. The likes of Prabhsukhan Gill, Hormipam Ruivah, Roshan Singh, Anwar Ali, VP Suhair, Danish Farooq and Aniket Jadhav have received first call-up for the senior team after a good showing in the recently -concluded Indian Super League.
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? SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT ?
A squad of 2️⃣5️⃣ #BlueTigers ? will represent India ?? in the International Friendlies against Belarus ?? & Bahrain ?? ?#BackTheBlue ? #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/08InqVnjGn
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) March 21, 2022
Goalkeeper Gill had a breakthrough season with Kerala Blasters FC. The 21-year-old, who came on as a substitute for injured Albino Gomes in the second match against Bengaluru FC, played a key role in his side’s run to the final where they eventually lost to Hyderabad FC on penalties.
The former Indian Arrows custodian kept seven clean sheets and won the ISL Golden Glove award. The other notable newcomer in the squad is Bengaluru FC full-back Roshan Singh, who won the ISL Emerging player award. The 23-year-old provided seven assists and scored one goal in 17 appearances for the Blues.
“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. 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,” Stimac said.
The players who were not involved in the ISL play-offs were training in the camp in Pune from March 11. The international friendlies are part of the team’s preparation for the final round of AFC Asian Cup China 2023 qualifying matches , which will be held in Kolkata from June 8 onwards.
India has been clubbed in Group D along with Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Cambodia. Twenty four teams have been divided into six groups. The group winners and five best second-placed teams will qualify for the Asian Cup in China.
Meanwhile two notable absentees from the squad are Sunil Chhetri and Sahal Abdul Samad. Both of them have been out with injuries. Sahal, who had an impressive season with the Kerala Blasters FC, scoring six goals, suffered a hamstring injury before his side’s semi-final second-leg against Jamshedpur FC and will require at least a week to recover.
Stimac has confirmed that in the absence of Chhetri, goalkeeper Gurpreet singh Sandhu and centre-back Sandesh Jhingan will lead the team.
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.
