Indian national team players presenting the new home and away kits by new kit sponsors Six5Six. (Photo courtesy: AIFF Media)
National Coach Stephen Constantine announced his 23-member squad for India’s campaign in the forthcoming AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019. India play their first match against Thailand on January 6, with matches against hosts UAE and Bahrain slotted for January 10, and January 14, respectively.
Constantine said: “It was very important to keep on the continuity. It’ll be silly of me to completely change the way we do things. Most of these boys are with us for some time now.”
“The other five boys (from the list of 28) will also stay with us until January 2, 2019. In case of an injury or anything else happens, these five boys will need to step up,” he added. “We are looking forward to the massive tournament. We hope these 23 boys will do a good job for us.”
The Blue Tigers were the first among 23 visiting teams to arrive in Abu Dhabi on December 20. A 28-member squad had travelled to Abu Dhabi and have been practicing in an effort to acclimatize themselves to the conditions.
Goalkeepers
1 Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (Bengaluru FC), 16 Vishal Kaith (FC Pune City), 23 Amrinder Singh (Mumbai City FC)
Defenders
2 Salam Ranjan Singh (East Bengal FC), 3 Subhasish Bose (Mumbai City FC), 4 Sarthak Golui (FC Pune City), 5 Sandesh Jhingan (Kerala Blasters FC), 20 Pritam Kotal (Delhi Dynamos FC/ATK), 21 Narayan Das (Delhi Dynamos FC), 22 Anas Edathodika (Kerala Blasters FC)
Midfielders
6 Germanpreet Singh (Chennaiyin FC), 7 Anirudh Thapa (Chennaiyin FC), 8 Vinit Rai (Delhi Dynamos FC), 13 Ashique Kuruniyan (FC Pune City), 14 Pronay Halder (ATK), 15 Udanta Singh (Bengaluru FC), 17 Rowllin Borges (NorthEast United FC), 18 Jackichand Singh (FC Goa), 19 Halicharan Narzary (Kerala Blasters FC)
Forwards
9 Sumeet Passi (Jamshedpur FC), 10 Balwant Singh (ATK), 11 Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru FC), 12 Jeje Lalpekhlua (Chennaiyin FC)
(AIFF Media)