The Indian football national team head coach Igor Stimac announced the final list of 25 players who will be travelling to Bahrain for the back-to-back international friendlies this week.
The team is scheduled to play the hosts on March 23, followed by the exhibition against Belarus on March 26.
Stimac has called up a record seven players for their first national team assignment - Prabhsukhan Gill, Hormipam Ruivah, Anwar Ali, Roshan Singh, VP Suhair, 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. We will give chances to some young players who have played well in the ISL this season to see how much we can use them for the qualifiers in June,” Stimac said.
The international friendlies are a part of the team’s preparation for the third round of the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 qualification, which will be held in Kolkata from June 8. India has been clubbed in Group D along with Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Cambodia. Group winners will earn direct qualification while the best five second placed teams in the six groups also go through to the continental event in China.
Squad
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.