Igor Stimac calls up 43 players for national team camp ahead of Qatar clash

Indian national men's football team head coach Igor Stimac has called up 43 players in two batches on March 9 and March 16, respectively for the FIFA World Cup 2022/AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifier game against Qatar on March 26 in Bhubaneswar, India.

20 players have been called up from the Indian Super League and I-League sides (barring the top four teams of the current ISL season) on March 9. The list is as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Amrinder Singh, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury, Md. Rafique Ali Sardar.

DEFENDERS: Pratik Prabhakar Chowdhary, Shubham Sarangi, Subhasish Bose, Narender, Adil Khan, Sandesh Jhingan.

MIDFIELDERS: Rowllin Borges, Amarjit Singh, Jeakson Singh, Nandhakumar Sekar, Lalengmawia, Vinit Rai, Raynier Fernandes, Nikhil Poojary, Mawihmingthanga, Halicharan Narzary, Sahal Abdul Samad.

FORWARDS: Farukh Choudhary, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Liston Colaco.

While the return of Sandesh Jhingan and Jeje Lalpekhlua is contentious, sources have informed that they have been called up for medical assessment by the national team's medical department.

The remaining 20 from the top 4 ISL sides of this season will join on March 16. The list is a follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Prabhsukhan Gill.

DEFENDERS: Prabir Das, Rahul Bheke, Pritam Kotal, Nishu Kumar, Sumit Rathi, Seriton Fernandes, Mandar Rao Dessai.

MIDFIELDERS: Edwin Sydney Vanspaul, Brandon Fernandes, Anirudh Thapa, Udanta Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Jackichand Singh.

FORWARDS: Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh, Micheal Soosairaj.

India is currently 4th in the standings in Group E of Round 2 of the FIFA World Cup 2022/AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers and the Blue Tigers need maximum points from the upcoming games to keep their World Cup qualification hopes alive.

India began their Round 2 qualification with a narrow 1-2 loss to Oman followed by a brave 0-0 draw at Qatar. Igor Stimac's side could not continue their momentum and dropped points against Bangladesh and Afghanistan with two consecutive draws before losing 0-1 to Oman.