India begin the Hero Tri-Nation Series by hosting Mauritius at the Mumbai Football Arena on Saturday evening. The Blue Tigers with a current FIFA ranking of 97, are the hot favourites to notch up their ninth win on the trot having also won 13 of their last 15 outings, a run of form that has catapulted their rankings by a massive 77 places over the past couple of years.The team will, however, be without any of the Bengaluru FC players for this tournament owing to the club’s involvement in the AFC Cup. That means that besides regular captain and all-time top scorer Sunil Chhetri, India will also miss their first-choice goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who recently made the switch from Norwegian club Stabaek FC to the two-time Hero I-League champions and now ISL debutants. The onus of leading the Indian team thus falls on Kerala Blasters FC centre-back Sandesh Jhingan, and in all probability, taking his place under the bar would be last year’s ISL Golden Glove winner and Mumbai City FC custodian Amrinder Singh.The good news, though, would be the fact that 2016’s AIFF Player of the Year Jeje Lalpekhlua will be available, as would be the most expensive buys of the ISL this year, Anas Edathodika and Eugeneson Lyngdoh. The former has forged quite a solid partnership with Jhingan at the heart of the defence and their chemistry will be pivotal for India holding their lines.Mauritius, with a current ranking of 160, may be the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, but are no pushovers. Captain Jonathan Bru is a former Ligue 1 player with Rennes while his younger brother, 28-year-old Kevin Bru, a former Rennes player himself, has been plying his trade for Championship side Ipswich Town since 2014. Apart from the duo, Mauritius has a potent midfielder in the form of 21-year-old Kevin Perticots who had made his debut for the national side at the age of 18 and has scored two of his three senior goals in 2017 itself, making him a definite threat.Add to that, their veteran coach Joaquim Francisco Filho had formerly worked under Sir Alex Ferguson at the youth level of Manchester United, where he also acted as an interpreter for Cristiano Ronaldo, when the Portuguese had signed for the Red Devils in 2003. He has also coached and developed the likes of Thierry Henry and Eric Cantona at the Clairefontaine French Football Centre. The visitors are definitely capable of and will be looking to spring in a few surprises.India’s other match-up is slated to be held on August 24 when they will play against 125th-ranked Saint Kitts & Nevis.The three-match series will serve as a warm-up for the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. India coach Stephen Constantine would want to try out all his players and ensure he gets the correct formula for the formations and tactics required to perform at the optimum level on the big stage.The series having been initiated by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) will see all three teams play each other once.All three matches will be broadcast LIVE on the Star Sports network and Jio TV.