The Indian national team will take on Oman in an international FIFA friendly match at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Thursday.

India coach Savio Medeira has decided to rest star striker Sunil Chhetri, midfielder Lalrindika ‘Dika’ Ralte and defender Nirmal Chettri. Sunil has just recovered from a major injury he picked up during the SAFF Championship 2011 final and Savio won’t take the risk to field the Mohun Bagan player. Dika and Nirmal have been also suffering from minor injuries and they won’t make it to the starting eleven.

“All of them have some niggles. We are here to prepare for the AFC Challenge Cup. I don’t want to risk them in an international friendly against Oman. The more time they get, the more will they recover,” Savio told.

“We have plenty of young talented players who are eager to perform at the big stage. Our emphasis would be to find the right mix of players keeping our future endeavors in mind,” Savio continued.

Talking about the strong Oman team, Savio said: “They are a superior side. They are much more technically equipped. We need to keep in mind they would be playing on their home ground and would have a home support.”

Oman are presently ranked 95th in the FIFA World Ranking, while India are placed 154th in the world.

The Oman vs India will be played at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat and the kick-off has been changed to 13.30 local time (15.00 IST | 10.30 CET | 09.30 GMT).

TEN Action+ will telecast the match LIVE, while additional UPDATES will be also available at www.facebook.com/cpd81.

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