The National Team Camp in preparation for the forthcoming AFC Asian Cup qualifying match against Kyrgyz Republic has kicked-off in Mumbai with players for stage 1 having reported on Saturday.
Players from Mohun Bagan and JSW Bengaluru FC, will, however, be reporting to the Camp in stage 2 after finishing their respective AFC Cup Club commitments.
The squad will be training in Mumbai for the next fortnight where they also play Nepal in an International Friendly at the Andheri Sports Complex on June 6.
The match against Kyrgyz Republic is slated to be played at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on June 13.
India are currently ranked 100 as per the May 2017 Rankings. The team had reached a low of 171 when Stephen Constantine took over in his second stint in February 2015 and slipped further down to 173 in March 2015 even before Constantine could be in charge against Nepal, which India eventually won 2-0 on aggregate.
Constantine said that “willingness to do the work” stays an integral part of the team’s philosophy. “We need to ensure that everyone stays in good condition as they have had a very long season. We expect one or two players to be carrying some niggles and we need to look after them,” he said.
“There are newcomers in the side including eight U-22 players. We have selected the players on the basis of their club performances. The players need to possess the character which we are looking for as the willingness to do the work is of paramount importance,” Constantine stated.
“We are always looking for competition and nobody in the Team can be assured of their places in the squad.”
The list of 35 probables stay as follows:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Subrata Paul, Debjit Majumdar, Amrinder Singh, Albino Gomes, Vishal Kaith (U-22).
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Nishu Kumar (U-22), Arnab Mondal, Sandesh Jihngan, Anas Edathodika, Chinglensana Singh (U-22), Lalruatthara (U-22), Fuganco Cardozo, Subhasish Bose (U-22), Narayan Das, Jerry Lalrinzuala (U-22).
Midfielders: Jackichand Singh, Udanta Singh, Laldanmawia Ralte (U-22), Seityasen Singh, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Rowllin Borges, Cavin Lobo, Md. Rafique, Dhanapal Ganesh, Milan Singh, Issac Vanmalsawma (U-22), Halicharan Narzary, Bikash Jairu.
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Daniel Lahlimpuia, Robin Singh, CK Vineeth.