Blue Tigers’ Asian Cup journey begins

New Delhi, December 30

Grappling with injuries to key midfielders, India today named a 26-member squad for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup with Sahal Abdul Samad making the cut but Jeakson Singh and Glan Martins missing out due to issues related to fitness.

Squad

Amrinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Akash Mishra, Lalchungnunga, Mehtab Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose, Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Deepak Tangri, Lalengmawia Ralte, Liston Colaco, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Sahal Abdul Samad, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Udanta Singh, Ishan Pandita, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Manvir Singh, Rahul KP, Sunil Chhetri, Vikram Partap Singh

Defensive midfielder Jeakson, who underwent shoulder injury in November, was always doubtful and so was Mohun Bagan’s Martins, who got injured recently. Both of them were among the 50 probables.

However, Samad, who had also picked up an injury earlier this month, managed to get into the side that will be spearheaded by seasoned striker Sunil Chhetri.

The Indian senior men’s team head coach Igor Stimac announced the squad.

The Blue Tigers are due to arrive in Doha later today, ahead of marking their fifth appearance in the Asian Cup.

India will play their opening Group B match against Australia on January 13 at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan before facing Uzbekistan on January 18 at the same venue. Stimac’s men will then move to the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor to take on Syria on January 23.

“I’m looking forward to seeing our Indian fans in Doha. They came in massive numbers to support the Indian team during the qualifiers, and that was one of the reasons why we had two great performances against Qatar ,” said Stimac.