Image credit: IndianFootball@Twitter

National coach Igor Stimac on Friday has named a 25-member squad for the upcoming friendlies against Nepal.

The two friendlies will be played on September 2 and September 5 at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu. The team will depart from New Delhi on August 30.

As many as eight Indian players from ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC have made it to the squad. Both teams were recently busy with their AFC Cup Group D South Zone campaign in the Maldives.

These eight players are: Amrinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Pritam Kotal, Subhasish Bose, Suresh Wangjam, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh and Sunil Chhetri.

The Blue Tigers will be in action for the first time since their campaign in the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in Doha in June earlier this year.

After the friendlies against Nepal, Stimac’s team will next feature in the 2021 SAFF Championship in the Maldives. They will kick off their campaign on October 4 against Bangladesh. This will be followed by matches against Sri Lanka, Nepal and Maldives on October 7, October 10 and October 13.

The final, featuring the top two teams, will be played on October 16.

25-member India Squad:

Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Dheeraj Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Chinglensana Singh, Mandar Rao Dessai, Akash Mishra, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Seriton Fernandes.

Midfielders: Lalengmawia, Bipin Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, Mohammed Yasir, Glan Martins, Suresh Wangjam, Jeakson Singh, Pronay Halder.

Forwards: Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Farukh Choudhary.