Dubai Pune FC’s Jeje Lalpekhlua has been named as captain for India’s campaign in the qualifiers for the AFC Under-22 Championship to be played in Muscat from Saturday.
Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who plays for Kingfisher East Bengal, has been named vice-captain.
The Indian squad has been preparing at Al Wasl Club and is scheduled to leave for Muscat on Thursday morning. India play Lebanon in the tournament opener at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex at 5pm on Saturday.
“It is a huge honour for me to lead my country,” Jeje said.
“Head coach Arthur Papas has been a pillar of support to all of us and we hope to do well.”
Hosts Oman, Iraq, UAE and Turkmenistan are the other teams in Group A along with Lebanon and India.
Meanwhile, the second half saw all five goals as India got past a stubborn DNATA Club 4-1 in their second friendly match late on Tuesday. After a barren first half, Lalrindika Ralte scored a brace for India, while Shaiju Mon and striker Manandeep Singh scored one apiece.
India squad:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (vice-captain, Kingfisher East Bengal), Ravi Kumar (Pailan Arrows), Soram Poirei Angamba (Shillong Lajong FC).
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Vishal Kumar, Souvik Ghosh, Prathamesh Maulinkar, Deepak Devrani (all Pailan Arrows), Narayan Das, (Tata Football Academy), Abhishek Das (Kingfisher East Bengal).
Midfielders: Pronoy Halder, Ognam Milan Singh, Thirthankar Sarkar, Alwyn George, (all Pailan Arrows), Simranjit Singh (Tata Football Academy), Ganeshan (Pune FC), Deepak Prakash (HAL), Lalrindika Ralte (Churchill Brothers), Shaiju Mon (Chirag Kerala), Romeo Fernandes (Dempo FC).
Forwards: Holicharan Narzary, (Pailan Arrows), Jeje Lalpekhlua (captain, Pune FC), Manandeep Singh (Air India).
Head coach: Arthur Papas; Assistant coach: Narayan Menon.
