India have named their 18-man squad for the upcoming Asian Games to be played in Hangzhou, China. The matches will be played from 19 September, and the Blue Tigers will return to the competition after a gap of nine years.

Indian captain Sunil Chhetri has been named as one of the players over 23, and will be leading the youngsters during the upcoming games. ISL clubs were reluctant to release their players for national team duty, which led to some strongly worded public comments from head coach Igor Stimac.

Senior players like Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu have not been called up since their clubs could not find an adequate replacement.

India name squad for Asian Games 2023

“It has been a hectic time for Indian football season this time. We have a tight schedule within a short period of time that was not easy to manage,” AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey said.

“There have been too many things happening, both at the domestic and the international level, involving India’s National Teams, as well as the ISL clubs. While the Senior National Men’s Team successfully completed playing a series of matches, they are also awaiting to play the Asian Games, followed by Merdeka Cup, World Cup Qualifiers, and the AFC Asian Cup,” he added.

India have been drawn in the same group with China, Bangladesh, and Myanmar and will face the hosts in their opening fixture on September 19. They will be expected to qualify for the knockout stages, being the second best ranked team behind China.