India’s 34 man probable squad for AFC Asian Cup football announced

The Indian men’s football team would be preparations for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup as soon as the ISL goes into a break, which would be held in the United Arab Emirates(UAE) from January 5 to February 1 next year. A band of 34 players have been called up by head coach Constantine to kickstart the preparations this month.

Some Indian youngsters have done reasonably in ISL this season and Constantine have included Blasters' Sahal Samad and ATK's Komal Thatal, who was a significant part of the India Under-17 team in his early probables. Blasters have the most representatives with five of their players making it to the list. Delhi Dynamos, Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, Pune City and ATK have four players each, while East Bengal defender Salam Ranjan Singh is the lone I-League player. 

At the Asian Cup Tournament, the Indian team has been put in the Group-A alongside Bahrain, UAE and Thailand. India would play its first match against Thailand at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi on January 6. Out of the list of 34 players, 28 will be travelling to UAE on December 20 to start the preparations for the tournament. The list would then further be trimmed down to 23 players.

List of the Probables:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Arindam Bhattacharya, Vishal Kaith. 

Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Sarthak Golui, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Salam Ranjan Singh, Subhasish Bose, Narayan Das, Nishu Kumar, Lalruatthara, Jerry Lalrinzuala.

Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Pronay Halder, Rowllin Borges, Anirudh Thapa, Vinit Rai, Halicharan Narzary, Ashique Kuruniyan, Germanpreet Singh, Bikash Jairu, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Sahal Samad, Komal Thatal, Jackichand Singh. 

Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sumeet Passi, Farukh Choudhary, Balwant Singh, Manvir Singh.