Top five players dropped from Indian football team to reserves for Tri-Nation Friendly Tournament

Most of these players have lost out on their place in the national team following their underwhelming performances.

The Indian Super League is almost over. It is now time to shift our attention to the Indian football team. The Blue Tigers will start preparing for the upcoming Tri-nation International football tournament, in which the Blue Tigers play two friendlies against Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan.

This is a perfect time for coach Igor Stimac to give new players the opportunity to represent the nation, and try to give a new and modified look to his lineup. With that in mind, Stimac announced the provisional squad for the training camp ahead of the Tri-Nation Cup.

The squad consists of a number of household names, but also includes top talents from the ongoing Indian Super League season. Several new faces have been picked on the back of their strong performances.

While these additions to the Indian football team have brought about tons of joy to players, some unfortunate ones have been sadly dropped from the main squad, and have been named as reserves. These players will be called up for the camp only if the necessity arises.

Some of the top players on this list of reserves are -

Sahal Abdul Samad

The magician from the southern coast of the country did not have the best ISL 2022-23 campaign, given his lofty standards. The 25-year-old had only three goals and two assists in 19 games, and zero contributions in the last nine games for the Tuskers.

Liston Colaco

Liston is another one of those bright talents that have failed to shine this season. A solitary goal contribution in the last 17 games validates the poor form he is in. This spree of poor performances in recent games, added with the low confidence of the player is the biggest reason for his seclusion from the national team.

Ishan Pandita

Ishan Pandita had a dreadful season with the Miners. The striker got very little game time, and rarely started for his team. Ishan finished the season with just two goals and zero assists, and lost credibility and status as one of India’s prime young strikers.

Asish Rai

Asish Rai had a fairly decent season, and fans could feel he was a little unfortunate to have missed out. The player was a regular starter for the Nizams and was a real force on the right flank. Asish, however, lost his position because of players like Naorem Roshan Singh and Rahul Bheke.

Vishal Kaith

Vishal Kaith is another player who despite his best efforts, couldn’t seal his place in the 23-man provisional squad. ATK Mohun Bagan’s goalkeeper has had a fantastic season, but was sacrificed for more experienced players like Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Amrinder Singh. Mumbai’s Phurba Lachenpa - arguably the most impressive goalkeeper this season - was also picked ahead of him.