India's talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri, senior defender Sandesh Jhingan and first-choice goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu were on Tuesday named in a 22-member Indian men's football squad for the upcoming Asian Games.
In Hangzhou, China, the host city for the Games, the Indian squad will be under the charge of national senior team head coach, Igor Stimac.
The participation of the Indian men's and women's football sides in the Hangzhou Games was earlier in doubt as per the sports ministry's criteria of sending teams which are ranked in top-8 in the continent. The ministry later cleared both the teams by relaxing the criteria after an appeal from the AIFF and Stimac.
The Asian Games' football competition is usually an Under-23 affair but due to the one-year delay in hosting this edition of the event, the organisers have allowed those who are 24 years old to participate, with the cut-off date of birth being fixed at January 1, 1999.
The national football team are returning to the Asian Games after missing the 2018 edition in Jakarta, last featuring in 2014, nine years ago. Two-time champions India are placed in Group A of the competition, which features China, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The top-two teams of each of the six groups and four third-best teams will progress to the Round of 16.
The Games begin on 23rd September, which might cause a scheduling conflict with the beginning of the Indian Super League. ISL clubs are not mandated to release their players as the Asian Games' football tournament are not considered a FIFA International window.
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Squad:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Gurmeet Singh, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem.
Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Narender Gahlot, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra, Roshan Singh, Ashish Rai.
Midfielders: Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Apuia Ralte, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Rahul KP, Naorem Mahesh Singh.
Forwards: Siva Sakthi Narayanan, Rahim Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Aniket Jadhav, Vikram Partap Singh, Rohit Danu.