Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac has named a 28-man provisional squad for India's upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers which will be held in Qatar.
India will fly out to Doha on Wednesday evening and all players and staff have been tested negative for Coronavirus in the last 48 hours - a document which is mandatory for travellers from India to Qatar.
The Blues Tigers are set to play against hosts Qatar on June 3, Bangladesh on June 7, and Afghanistan on June 15. India are currently fourth on the points table and from the remaining fixtures, they will hope to collect as many points as possible and finish third so that they can seal automatic qualification for the 2023 Asian Cup qualifying third round.
Expectedly, star forward Sunil Chhetri, who missed India's last couple of friendlies in March due to a Coronavirus infection, is back in the team.
FC Goa midfielder Glan Martins has been named in the Indian squad for the very first time while players like Subhasish Bose and Pronay Halder return to Stimac's team. ATK Mohun Bagan's Prabir Das and FC Goa's Seriton Fernandes miss out after testing positive for coronavirus.
Players like Ashutosh Mehta, Rahul KP and Asish Rai miss out due to injuries.
Stimac believes that it is not the “ideal situation” ahead of the June Qualifiers, but the Blue Tigers will be putting in “intense” sessions before their matches get underway.
“It’s not an ideal situation as we move ahead to the Qualifiers in June. Due to the pandemic, our national camp which was slated to begin in Kolkata at the beginning of May had to get cancelled. The pandemic also robbed us of a friendly match in Dubai,” the head coach stated.
AIFF
Squad
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Dheeraj Singh.
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Narender Gehlot, Chinglensana Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Akash Mishra, Subhashish Bose.
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, Rowllin Borges, Glan Martins, Anirudh Thapa, Pronoy Halder, Suresh Singh, Apuia, Abdul Sahal, Yasir Md, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Bipin Singh, Ashique K.
Forwards: Manvir Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Ishan Pandita.
India's journey so far in the Qualifiers
India started their journey with a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of Oman at home followed by a historic goalless draw against Asian champions Qatar in Doha. In their third and fourth matches, the Blue Tigers managed 1-1 draws against Bangladesh and Afghanistan respectively and then they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Oman away from home.
Further reading
Covid-19 challenges for Stimac
Arduous test awaits Igor Stimac's India
-min.png?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)