AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers: 5 Players who deserved to be called up for Indian national team camp

#5 Gursimrat Singh Gill (Bengaluru FC)

Gursimrat Singh Gill during one of Bengaluru's training sessions

Gursimrat Singh Gill is an extremely promising centre-back. The 22-year-old hails from a modest village in Punjab - Sarabha. He spent 5 years (from 2007 to 2012) with the Chandigarh Football Academy. Gill also won the U-14 Subroto Cup with them.

Soon the youngster joined the regional academy of AIFF in Mumbai. He was also amongst a select few who were sent to the Nike All Asia Camp in Doha in 2013. The defender was an integral part of the AIFF Elite Academy when they lifted the 2014–15 I-League U19 trophy in 2015.

Gill put pen to paper for Bengaluru FC on 23 August 2016 - it was also his first professional contract. After getting negligible game time with the Karnataka-based club, the youngster made a move to NorthEast United FC for the 2017-18 season. The 22-year-old was again roped in by The Blues ahead of the 2018-19 season.

Considering the fact that the centre back has given impressive performances for the India national Under-20 football team in the past at competitions such as SAFF U-19 Championship, his omission from the preparatory camp for AFC U-23 Championship does come as a surprise.

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As a part of the preparation, the Indian U-23 team are also slated to lock horns with Qatar U-23s on March 11 in a practice match.