India leave Gurpreet Singh Sandhu out of squad for NZ friendlies

India have named a 23-player squad for two friendlies against the All Whites. Veteran goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is not in it.

Head coach Khalid Jamil named the squad on Friday 6 November, according to a PTI report. The matches are on 12 and 15 November.

Goalkeepers

Sandhu is a former India captain. Hrithik Tiwari, Som Kumar and Vishal Kaith are the three goalkeepers picked.

Jamil has not been quoted on why Sandhu was left out. India.com noted that the omission follows a 4-0 loss to Brazil, in which Sandhu played. Indian Opinion says India Today reports that the Brazil result influenced the decision. We have not seen that report ourselves, and it is not an official explanation.

Injuries

Defender Anwar Ali has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. Lalengmawia Ralte and Mohammed Sanan are also out through injury. India.com reports that Anwar has a Grade 1 hamstring injury and is expected to be out for more than a month.

SAFF Championship players

Bijoy Varghese, Muhammad Suhail and Liston Colaco come from the SAFF Championship squad in Dhaka. They will leave that tournament to join the New Zealand tour.

The squad

Goalkeepers: Hrithik Tiwari, Som Kumar, Vishal Kaith.
Defenders: Abhishek Singh Tekcham, Akash Mishra, Bijoy Varghese, Jay Gupta, Mehtab Singh, Pramveer, Ricky Meetei Haobam, Roshan Singh Naorem.
Midfielders: Anirudh Thapa, Ashique Kuruniyan, Jithin MS, Lalremtluanga Fanai, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Tomba Singh Haobam.
Forwards: David Lalhlansanga, Edmund Lalrindika, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, Muhammad Suhail, Ryan Williams.

The defenders list is from The Bridge. The other positions match ThePrint’s list.

Travel and coach’s comments

The squad was due to assemble in Bengaluru on Saturday and train on Sunday. It would then fly to Auckland that night.

Jamil described New Zealand as a World Cup-playing nation and a strong opponent. He said the two matches would be a good test away from home.

Note: we could not open the Friends of Football NZ report on this story. This article draws on the Indian media reports linked above.