India national coach Stephen Constantine has trimmed his squad to 22 players ahead of the penultimate match of their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign against Iran in Tehran on Thursday. Constantine will be without the services of India’s all-time top-scorer, Sunil Chhetri. The Mumbai City FC striker, who was the highest scoring Indian in ISL 2015 with seven goals, fails to make the squad due to injury.Other notable absentees from Constantine’s squad of 22 feature the likes of Atlético de Kolkata pair Rino Anto and Mohammed Rafique as well as NorthEast United FC’s Alwyn George and goalkeeper TP Rehenesh. Keepers Subrata Paul (Mumbai City FC) and Karanjit Singh (Chennaiyin FC) though make the cut, vying for a starting berth in Tehran.Defenders named in Constantine’s squad include Aiborlang Khongjee (NorthEast United FC), Augustine Fernandes (Atlético de Kolkata), Arnab Mondal (Atlético de Kolkata), Narayan Das (FC Goa), Pritam Kotal (FC Pune City) and Sandesh Jhingan (Kerala Blasters FC), while Pronay Halder (FC Goa), Bikash Jairu (FC Pune City), Harmanjot Singh Khabra (Chennaiyin FC), Cavin Lobo (Kerala Blasters FC), Francis Fernandes (Delhi Dynamos FC) and Seityasen Singh (NorthEast United FC) are set to battle it out for the midfield positions.In the absence of Chhetri, India will be hoping that the in-form Jeje Lalpekhlua (Chennaiyin FC) and Halicharan Narzary (NorthEast United FC) are sharp in front of goal as they look to pull off a massive upset against the mighty Iranians.Squad:GOALKEEPERS: Subrata Paul, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Karanjit Singh.DEFENDERS: Aiborlang Khongjee, Augustine Fernandes, Arnab Mondal, Narayan Das, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Lalchhuanmawia.MIDFIELDERS: Pronay Halder, Bikash Jairu, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Cavin Lobo, Rowllin Borges, Francis Fernandes, Udanta Singh, Vineet Rai, Seityasen Singh.FORWARDS: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sumeet Passi, Halicharan Narzary.
