Indian team head coach Igor Stimac has announced a 25-man squad for the two friendlies against Nepal. The two matches will be played on September 2 and September 5 at the Dasarath Stadium in Kathmandu. The team will leave to Nepal from New Delhi on August 30.

The 25-member Indian squad includes eight players from ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC, who both recently participated in the AFC Cup Group D South Zone matches. This will be the first time when the Indian team will be in action after playing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in Doha in June earlier this year.

After two matches against Nepal, the Sunil Chhetri-led team will participate in 2021 SAFF Championship in the Maldives. The Blue Tigers will kick off their campaign on October 4 against Bangladesh. India had recently beaten Bangladesh by 2-0 in June in the World Cup qualifiers and the AFC Asian Championship qualifiers.

This will be followed by matches against Sri Lanka, Nepal and Maldives on October 7, October 10 and October 13 respectively. The SAFF Championship final will be played on 16th October.

Ishan Pandita, who recently signed a new deal with Jamshedpur FC has been excluded from the team.

25-member India Squad:

Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Dheeraj Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Chinglensana Singh, Mandar Rao Dessai, Akash Mishra, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Seriton Fernandes.

Midfielders: Lalengmawia, Bipin Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, Mohammed Yasir, Glan Martins, Suresh Wangjam, Jeakson Singh, Pronay Halder.

Forwards: Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Farukh Choudhary.