Asian Games: Sunil Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu headline India's 22-member squad

India men’s football team head coach Igor Stimac on Tuesday named a strong team for the upcoming Asian Games that will be held in Hangzhou, China in September. The 22-member squad will be led by the talismanic Sunil Chhetri. Veteran defender Sandesh Jhingan and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu have also been named in the squad. The participation of the Indian men’s and women’s football sides in the Hangzhou Games was earlier in doubt as per the sports ministry’s criteria of sending teams which are ranked in top-8 in the continent. Also read: Asian Games participation a victory on multiple fronts for Indian football The ministry later cleared both the teams by relaxing the criteria after an appeal from the AIFF. Head coach Stimac had also sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the matter. The Asian Games’ football competition is a Under-23 affair but due to the one-year delay in hosting this edition of the event, the organisers have allowed those who are 24 years old to participate, with the cut off date of birth being fixed at January 1, 1999. The national football team would be returning to the Asian Games after missing the 2018 edition in Jakarta. India have been placed in Group A along with China, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Squad: Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Gurmeet Singh, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem. Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Narender Gahlot, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra, Roshan Singh, Ashish Rai. Midfielders: Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Apuia Ralte, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Rahul KP, Naorem Mahesh Singh. Forwards: Siva Sakthi Narayanan, Rahim Ali, Aniket Jadhav, Vikram Partap Singh, Rohit Danu, Sunil Chhetri. Head Coach: Igor Stimac. With inputs from PTI