King's Cup 2019 | Jeje Lalpekhlua, Halicharan Narzary miss out as AIFF announces 37-man squad

After the All India Football Federation (AIFF) finally appointed Igor Stimac as their new national coach of the men’s team with less than a month to go for the tournament to be held in Buriram, they have wasted no time announcing the 37-man probable list for the tournament.

The preparatory camp, which would be held in New Delhi from May 20, will feature the core of the team in Sunil Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Pritam Kotal amongst some new faces who emerged from the Indian Super League last season. They include the likes of Soosairaj, Justin, Thatal,  Lallianzuala Chhangte, and more. 

Unfortunately, there are some experienced and promising names missing out from the list as well like Kerala Blasters’ Halicharan Narzary, who is out with a knee injury, FC Goa’s Mandar Rao Desai with a hamstring injury, FC Pune City’s Ashique Kuruniyan as well Narender Gehlot with knee injury, and Jerry Lalrinzuala.  

“I respected the choice of the squad which represented India in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019. The rest of the players have been added post my research watching Hero I-League and Hero ISL matches. I found some players quite interesting, and have summoned them to the camp,” Stimac said to www.the-aiff.com. 

“I congratulate all the players, and wish them good luck. I am eagerly waiting to land in New Delhi, and get on the task immediately. I have always cherished new challenges, and I am looking forward to coaching the Blue Tigers,” Stimac added.

THE LIST OF 37 PROBABLES STAYS AS FOLLOWS: 

 GOALKEEPERS: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Amrinder Singh, Kamaljit Singh

DEFENDERS: Pritam Kotal, Nishu Kumar, Rahul Bheke, Salam Ranjan Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Anwar Ali (Jr), Subhasish Bose, Narayan Das.  

MIDFIELDERS: Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Anirudh Thapa, Raynier Fernandes, Bikramjit Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh, Pronay Halder, Rowllin Borges, Germanpreet Singh, Vinit Rai, Sahal Abdul, Amarjit Singh, Redeem Tlang, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Nandha Kumar, Komal Thatal, Michael Soosairaj. 

FORWARDS: Balwant Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Jobby Justin, Sumeet Passi, Farukh Choudhary, Manvir Singh.