As many as six players from have been named in the 35-member probable squad announced by Indian National Team Coach Igor Stimac for the upcoming friendly games against Oman and UAE which will be held in Dubai, in March. With attackers Halicharan Narzary, Liston Colaco, midfielders Hitesh Sharma, Mohammad Yasir, and defenders Chinglensana Singh and Akash Mishra, Hyderabad FC is the most represented club in the camp.
While Narzary has been a regular for the Men in Blue in recent times, defender Sana Singh marks his return to the national set-up after a strong season with the Nizams. Midfielder Hitesh Sharma who was part of the youthful squad that played in the SAFF Championship in 2019 and will be part of the senior setup for the first time. Meanwhile, Liston Colaco, Akash Mishra and Mohammad Yasir’s impressive performance in the recently concluded Indian Super League league stages have bore fruit as they got their maiden national team call-up.
ISL Shield winners Mumbai City FC (Amrinder Singh, Bipin Singh, Mandar Rao Dessai, Rowllin Borges, Raynier Fernandes) and Bengaluru FC (Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, Suresh Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan) have five representations in the preliminary squad. NorthEast United FC(Mashoor Shereef, Lalengmawia, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Ashutosh Mehta), FC Goa (Dheeraj Singh, Seriton Fernandes, Adil Khan, Ishan Pandita) and ATK Mohun Bagan (Manvir Singh, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Prabir Das) have four each. Chennaiyin FC (Vishal Kaith, Anirudh Thapa, Lallianzuala Chhangte) and Kerala Blasters (Jeakson Singh, Rahul KP) have two representations each. While Jamshedpur FC (Farukh Choudhary) and SC East Bengal (Sarthak Golui) are being represented by one player each.
“We have kept 35 players in the list as a cushion in case any player picks up an injury during the ISL playoffs,” Igor Stimac said after announcing the squad.
The final list of 28 players will be announced after the Indian Super League final, which is slated to take place on March 13. The Blue Tigers will assemble in a preparatory camp in Dubai from March 15 onwards. The friendlies against Oman and UAE are scheduled to be played on March 25 and March 29 respectively.
HERE IS THE FULL 35-MAN PRELIMINARY 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