India announce 25-man squad for friendlies against Belarus and Bahrain

The Indian men's national football team has announced the 25-member squad that will travel to Bahrain to play friendly matches against the home team and Belarus.

For the record it's the maiden call up for 7 players for their first National Senior Team assignment - Prabhshukhan Gill, Hormipam Ruivah, Anwar Ali, Roshan Singh, VP Suhair, Danish Farooq, and Aniket Yadav.

The Blue Tigers will face the hosts, Bahrain, on March 23 and Belarus on March 26. Both the matches are set to kick-off at 9.30 PM IST. The squad is expected to fly to Bahrain on Monday.

The two friendlies are part of the team's preparation for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in June, later this year.

India will be playing all of their 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers matches in Kolkata, from June 8 onwards. The Blue Tigers are placed with Afghanistan, Hong Kong, and Cambodia in Group D. The 24 teams are divided into six groups and group toppers along with the five best second-placed teams will make the cut for the showpiece event.

"We are playing Bahrain and Belarus, and they are better-ranked sides than us. But whatever the rankings are, you need to do it on the pitch. Bahrain will show us where we stand. We will give chances to some young players who have played well in the Hero ISL this season to see how much we can use them for the qualifiers in June," Head Coach Igor Stimac stated.

The final list of 25 players is as below:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, and Prabhsukhan Gill.

Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Seriton Fernandes, Rahul Bheke, Hormipam Ruivah, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Chinglensana Singh, Subhasish Bose, Akash Mishra, and Roshan Singh.

Midfielders: Bipin Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Pronay Halder, Jeakson Singh, Brandon Fernandes, VP Suhair, Danish Farooq, Yasir Mohammad, and Aniket Jadhav.

FORWARDS: Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, and Rahim Ali.

( With inputs from ANI )