AFC Challenge Cup 2012: India coach Savio Medeira announces 23-member squad

The Indian national team coach Savio Medeira has named his 23-member squad for the Challenge Cup 2012 which will be held in Nepal next week.

Clifford Miranda, Arnab Mondal and Baldeep Singh have all missed out due to injuries while Lester Fernandez, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Manandeep Singh and Manish Maithani also failed to make the final cut.

Indian coach Savio with his player

India are scheduled to play their first match against Tajikistan on March 9 after the Challenge Cup kicks-off in Kathmandu on 8 March 2012.

As part of their preparations towards the tournament, India played three friendlies losing 5-1 to Oman in Muscat, following that up with a 3-0 loss against Azerbaijan in Dubai before finally beating an amateur Dubai based Iranian club 3-1 in the last match.

The following is the list of 23 members, who will represent Team India in Group B of the Challenge Cup. The squad will leave for Kathmandu on Sunday afternoon:

Goalkeepers: Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar); Subhasish Roychowdhury (Dempo SC); Arindam Bhattacharya (Churchill Brothers).

Defenders: Nirmal Chhetri, Raju Gaikwad (both East Bengal); Samir Naik (Dempo SC); Gourmangi Moirangthem (Churchill Brothers); Anwar Ali, Kinsukh Debnath, Syed Rahim Nabi (all Mohun Bagan); Gurjinder Singh (Pune FC).

Midfielders: Adil Khan (Sporting Clube de Goa); Anthony Pereira (Dempo SC); Reisangmi Vashum (East Bengal); Rocus Lamare, Francis Fernandes (both Salgaocar SC); Jewel Raja (Mohun Bagan); Lenny Rodrigues, Lalrindika Ralte (both Churchill Brothers).

Forwards: Sunil Chhetri (Mohun Bagan); Sushil Singh (Shillong Lajong FC – on loan), CS Sabeeth (Pailan Arrows); Joaquim Abranches (Dempo SC).