Five out-of-form players fortunate to receive India call-up for October international window

Some of these players were underwhelming during their last outing with the Blue Tigers.

Manolo Marquez has revealed his 26-man initial Indian Football Team squad for their upcoming friendly match during the October international break. The Blue Tigers will face hosts Vietnam on 9th October at the Thiên Trường Stadium in Nam Dinh and the new Spanish mentor will get more time to understand his players as well as implement his philosophy into the squad.

But the initial Indian squad announced for this upcoming competition has triggered a bittersweet response from fans. The absence of players like Jithin MS, Imran Khan, and Nikhil Prabhu has irked quite a lot of supporters.

This is especially considering that Marquez has named some pretty out-of-form Indian players in his squad despite them starting the 2024-25 season disappointingly. Here we look at the five Indian players who are rather fortunate to receive the call-up despite their underwhelming current form.

5. Chinglensana Singh

Chinglensana Singh has found it tough to get regular starts in the Bengaluru FC side this season because of Rahul Bheke’s presence. The 27-year-old has been resorted to the role of a bench warmer for the Blues and only started one of their four matches so far. Sana had a pretty shaky outing in Bengaluru’s 3-0 win over Hyderabad, failing to make a tackle or win a ground duel. He was outwitted by the young Hyderabad FC forwards, forcing Gerard Zaragoza to take him off before the hour mark.

Sana has been used as a substitute in two other games but failed to do anything noteworthy. Marquez has probably chosen him due to his familiarity with the Indian centre-half’s style having worked with him at Hyderabad FC. But considering his shaky form, Sana is lucky that Sandesh Jhingan is still out injured – which has allowed him to retain his place in the Indian squad.

4. Nandhakumar Sekar

Nandhakumar Sekar has shown a decent work rate and at least worked his socks off in East Bengal’s horrible start to the 2024-25 ISL season. While his hard-working nature can’t be doubted, Nandha has failed to really make a mark as an attacking player. He has zero goal contributions in the three matches so far and hasn’t gone close to doing something special too.

He has created just one goal-scoring chance, averaging under 20 passes per game, and failed to bring any goal threat to East Bengal’s attack. Nandha has probably been chosen for India by Marquez due to his impressive work rate but he needs to significantly improve his final product for a brighter future with club and country.

ALSO READ: In-form players not picked in India’s probable squad for October 2024 break

3. Rahim Ali

Rahim Ali embraced a change in his career by opting to join Odisha FC this summer after leaving Chennaiyin FC. But after an underwhelming ISL debut for the Juggernauts, where he failed to prove himself as a decent goal threat for Odisha FC against Chennaiyin FC, he’s lost his starting role.

Ali has no goal or assists in four ISL appearances so far, as he’s failed to prove himself as an impact substitute either with forgettable cameos in recent games. Rahim has only created one scoring chance in the ISL for the Juggernauts and keeps on frustrating fans with his sloppiness in front of the goal. Despite that, he’s gotten a place in India’s squad – mostly due to the Blue Tigers’ lack of physical forwards.

2. Jeakson Singh

There was a lot of fanfare on the arrival of Jeakson Singh to East Bengal, but the 23-year-old has yet to justify his price tag. He’s had a pretty disappointing start to the season, with East Bengal’s midfield getting blatantly overrun in the majority of their games so far. Jeakson has been unable to properly protect their backline or provide much in the other half, having been unable to create anything.

He’s only won around 53% of his ground duels and 50% aerial duels, losing on key challenges and causing issues for his backline. He’s also been caught in some awkward situations for some of the goals conceded by East Bengal and is in a poor run of form. Despite that, Jeakson has somehow gotten a place in the India squad ahead of someone like Prabhu or Imran.

ALSO READ: New faces called up in India’s probable squad for Vietnam International friendly

1. Manvir Singh

Mohun Bagan’s shaky start to the 2024-25 season is mostly because of multiple forwards underperforming and Manvir Singh falls into that category. After being benched in the season opener against Mumbai City, Manvir has started both games following that – only to disappoint. He’s had zero goal contributions in the ISL so far and only got a few shots on target, being unable to create any chances.

Even though Manvir’s work rate cannot be questioned and he often helps out with his impressive defensive qualities, that is not a primary objective for a forward like him.

He’s only been selected for the India squad because of the sheer shortage of options up-front and the lack of reliable forwards. Manvir is quite fortunate to keep his place for India despite his poor domestic form and needs to rediscover his clinical edge to get out of this ditch.

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