First of all, the games are at home. It is not like the Indian team is going to play matches abroad. If the match is played abroad, the footballers incur additional expenses for airfare and accommodation. There is no such issue here. So what is the problem if we call 36 players instead of 26 in the national camp at home? And if the number of matches is three, there is no profit or loss in rotating the footballers. Playing against a heavyweight team will increase the experience and confidence of Indian footballers. Khalid Jamil should take that opportunity. It will ultimately benefit him. In the future, the Indian team will get the motivation to fight when it faces a strong opponent.
India's opponent in the first match is Panama on September 26 at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. The second match is against five-time world champions Brazil on October 3 at the Yuva Bharati Stadium. As far as is known, Brazil coach Carles Ancelotti is coming with a full strength team. Vinicius Junior is expected to be in it. And the third and final match will be against two-time world champions Uruguay at the Yuva Bharati Stadium. Uruguayan coach Diego Forlan has played for ISL Mumbai City FC in India. Football fans in Kolkata have also seen him play against ATK at the Rabindrasarovar Stadium.
Khalid Jamil is starting a training camp in Bengaluru from September 14 with 26 footballers for these three matches. After playing the Panama match in Bengaluru on September 26, the Indian coach will reach Kolkata with the Indian team for the Brazil and Uruguay matches on September 28. This final phase of training will be held at the Rajarhat Centre of Excellence.
Albino Gomes, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Prabhusukhan Gill, Som Kumar (goalkeeper), Abhishek Singh, Akash Mishra, Anwar Ali, Vijay Varghese, Ralte, Joy Gupta, Parambir, Ricky Howbam (defender), Aniruddha Thapa, Ashiq Kurunyan, Farooq Chowdhury, Apuya, Mackerton Nicholson, Mohammad Sanan, Ricky Shyabang, Sahal Abdul Samad (midfielder), Enmund Lalridika, Irfan Irwar, Manbir Singh, Rahim Ali, Ryan Williams, Vikram Pratap Singh (forward) have been called up to the national camp for three matches. Apart from these, four footballers have been kept in the reserve list. These are goalkeeper Ritwik Tiwari, defender Chinglesana Singh, Roshan Singh and midfielder Suresh Singh.
Surprisingly, experienced defender Sandesh Jhingan is not in the 26-man squad selected by Khalid. Why he was left out is unknown. One thing is for sure, Sandesh does not have any injury. If age is the reason for Sandesh's exclusion, it cannot be accepted. Because Khalid is certainly not an older coach than Brazil coach Ancelotti. Ancelotti kept Neymar in the Brazil team for the FIFA 2026 World Cup despite him not being fully fit for the sake of the team. That was to motivate the rest of the team's footballers. It is not known that Sandesh has any injury or fitness problems there. It is not that Sandesh's form is very bad. On the contrary, when Igor Stimac was the national coach, Sandesh gave eye-catching performances in many international matches, pairing with Anwar Ali as a stopper. Therefore, it is believed that if Sandesh was in defense against strong opponents like Panama, Brazil, Uruguay, the chances of conceding a goal would have been reduced. Sandesh himself was very angry and disappointed when he was dropped from the Indian team. He has also told his close circle that the opportunity to play against teams like Brazil or Uruguay does not come again and again in life. It would be bad if that opportunity was missed.
Not only Sandesh, but the absence of Bipin Singh from the recently won Durand Cup East Bengal team in the potential Indian team is also unfortunate. Bipin was one of the key players in the success of the red and yellow. It is true that Bipin will be busy playing the AFC Champions League Tier Two match for East Bengal until September 16, and he will also be Lalmund Lalrindika, so if that match is over, Bipin, like Edmund, could have joined the camp two days later if he got a call. Coach Khalid Jamil may have left out Liston Colasso, Rahul Beck, Chante or goalkeeper Vishal Keith for the sake of form, but what was the problem in calling them to the camp.
Khalid's reaction on the next three matches, the matches against Panama, Brazil and Uruguay are very important for the Indian team. The footballers will be able to increase their experience at the international level by playing these matches. The Bengaluru camp will be a preparation. Through the experience of playing the Panama match, it will be possible to prepare themselves better for the Brazil and Uruguay matches.