5 players who deserved to be named in the Indian National team

#2 Mandar Rao Desai

Desai in action vs ATK

Mandar Rao Desai just before this season gained the eyeballs of Spanish giants Villareal who called him for a two-week training camp. He has always been one of the best Indian wingers and has been constantly ignored for the national camp. Zico the erstwhile FC Goa coach even went on to claim that no other Indian winger had the qualities that Desai possess.

Speed, agility, guile, vision and a good range of passing skills all makeup Desai's playing style. He has been in good form this season and has a big role in ensuring that FC Goa made the playoffs this season. He has 2 goals and 3 assists in 18 games but more than that, it has been his presence down the left and the number of chances that he has created that has gained everyone’s eyeballs this season. He has more than 30 successful crosses and over 35 shots which is high for any Indian player.

With players like Sumit Passi in the squad who has only played 187 minutes of football this season, and has played less than 500 minutes of football combining the last two seasons, one can say that not including Desai (who has played 1600 minutes of football this season only) has been a grave injustice to a player who has been performing well consistently.