The final 23-man squad for the Asian Cup is in as Stephen Constantine named the Indian team for Asia’s biggest football event.
The five members culled from the 28-man squad that travelled to the United Arab Emirates are Delhi Dynamos’ Lallinzuala Chhangte, ATK’s Arindam Bhattacharjya, Jamshedpur FC’s Farukh Chowdhary, Kerala Blasters’ Lalruatthara and FC Goa’s Manvir Singh.
Talisman Sunil Chhetri is part of the forward line and will have Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sumeet Passi and Balwant Singh. With Jeje and Balwant out of form, India will bank heavily on the likes of Chhetri to provide inspiration in attack.
Wingers Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan and Halicharan Narzary made the cut, two of whom will possibly play in the first eleven. Central midfielders Anirudh Thapa, Germanpreet Singh, Vinit Rai, Rowllin Borges and Pronay Halder will also hope to start on the 6th. Thapa, along with Halder or Borges, is expected to start for the Blue Tigers.
Amrinder Singh and Vishal Kaith are expected to be the back-ups for Gurpreet Sandhu, while Constantine selected seven defenders including the surprise inclusion of Sarthak Golui.
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Sarthak Golui, Salam Ranjan Singh, Anas Edathodika, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose, Narayan Das
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Germanpreet Singh, Vinit Rai, Rowllin Borges, Pronay Halder, Ashique Kuruniyan, Halicharan Narzary
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sumeet Passi, Balwant Singh
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