AFC Asian Cup 2019: India announce final 23-man squad

The final 23-man squad for the Asian Cup 2019 is in as Stephen Constantine named the Indian team for Asia’s biggest football tournament.

The five members excluded from the 28-man squad that travelled to the United Arab Emirates are Delhi Dynamos’ Lallinzuala Chhangte, ATK’s Arindam Bhattacharjya, Jamshedpur FC’s Farukh Chowdhary, Kerala Blasters’ Lalruatthara and FC Goa’s Manvir Singh.

The Blue Tigers are set to take on Oman on December 27 at the Bani Yas Stadium in Abu Dhabi in a closed-door preparatory match. India is also expected to play another practice match before their first competitive match on January 6 against a local club.

Centre-back Anas Edathodika and central defensive midfielder Pronay Halder are yet to attain full fitness but have been included in the final squad.

India's Group A opponents are Bahrain, UAE and Thailand. The Blue Tigers will play their first match of the campaign against Thailand at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Goalkeeper Amrinder Singh and Defender Subhashish Bose are the two Mumbai City FC players who have been named in the final 23. 

It's time for the #BlueTigers' biggest challenge - the 2019 @afcasiancup!

Good luck to our boys @Amrinder_1, @Subhasishbose17 and the entire @IndianFootball contingent! Make us proud! 👊🏻#AsianDream #BackTheBlue #ApunKaTeam 🔵 pic.twitter.com/OaxDBMNnm5

— Mumbai City FC (@MumbaiCityFC) December 27, 2018

India's 23-man squad for AFC Asian Cup 2019

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith

Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Sarthak Golui, Salam Ranjan Singh, Anas Edathodika, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose, Narayan Das

Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Germanpreet Singh, Vinit Rai, Rowllin Borges, Pronay Halder, Ashique Kuruniyan, Halicharan Narzary

Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sumeet Passi, Balwant Singh