Ahead of the Intercontinental Cup, India head coach Igor Stimac has named his list of 25 players, for the tournament. The competition will be held in Ahmedabad's EKA Arena, from July 7 to July 19.
The participating teams are Tajikistan, Syria and DPR Korea.
The Blue Tigers, who are the reigning champion face Tajikistan in their first fixture, which is on the opening day itself.
Speaking to AIFF's media team, Stimac stated, "We are satisfied with the execution of work for the past ten days. The players worked really hard, and we are all very enthusiastic about our upcoming games"
All the outfits will face each once, while the top two sides will play in the final. Also, all matches will kick-off at 8 PM.
Stimac had originally called up 35 players for the camp in Mumbai, which began from June 25. The released players are Salam Ranjan Singh, Nishu Kumar, Vishal Kaith, Anwar Ali, Sarthak Golui, Michael Soosairaj, Raynier Fernandes, Jackichand Singh, Nikhil Poojary and Balwant Singh.
Ashique Kuruniya was released earlier.
Narender Gahlot is a surprise inclusion in the outfit, while Raynier's absence comes as a shock, as the 23-year-old was looking like the industrious midfielder needed by this Indian setup. Meanwhile, big things are expected from Amarjit Singh, who had an amazing senior team debut in the King's Cup loss to Curacao, where Stimac branded him as India's best player in that fixture.
THE 25-MEMBER SQUAD
GOALKEEPERS: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Kamaljit Singh.
DEFENDERS: Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Anas Edathodika, Narender Gahlot, Subhasish Bose, Jerry Lalrinzuala.
MIDFIELDERS: Udanta Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Anirudh Thapa, Pronay Halder, Rowllin Borges, Vinit Rai, Sahal Abdul, Amarjit Singh, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Mandar Rao Desai.
FORWARDS: Jobby Justin, Sunil Chhetri, Farukh Choudhary, Manvir Singh.
