Intercontinental Cup 2018: The unpicked Indian Football Team
Stephen Constantine announced a 30-man preliminary squad for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup, which is set to start from June 1 at the Mumbai Football Arena. Some notable players like Souvik Chakrabarti, Laldanmawia Ralte, Dhanpal Ganesh, and Ashique Kuruniyan finally made it to the list. Meanwhile, Sunil Chhetri returned after being rested for the AFC Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan.
The 55-year-old gaffer has made it clear that no one is supposed to take his place for granted in the side. Players who impressed him in the domestic season have been rewarded. However, he has been on the receiving end of criticism by the pundits for excluding some notable names.
It would be interesting to note the best XI if we only had the excluded players to chose from. Here, we present you the unpicked Indian National Football Team.
P.S. The team will be playing a 4-4-2 formation as that's what the Indian team plays all the time.
#1 Goalkeeper (Captain) - Subrata Pal
Subrata Pal is one of the finest goalkeepers the nation has ever produced. The 31-year-old Tata Academy product started all the 18 games for Jamshedpur FC this season and made a total of 44 saves. Moreover, he only conceded 0.83 goals per game which is the least for any ISL goalkeeper.
However, the second-choice goalkeeper of the team made it to Constantine's list. Subrata was sent off in their last ISL game after coming off the line. It was then that Sanjiban Ghosh had made his debut for the 'Men in Steel.' In an impressive performance, Ghosh did exceptionally well in Jamshedpur's first-round Super Cup match against Minerva Punjab. He took the match to penalties making some crucial saves and was also rock solid during the penalties. He saved three shots ensuring a 5-4 win for his side in penalties.
The second choice goalkeeper, Ghosh has been selected over the 'Golden Glove' winner. However, considering how little game time the 26-year-old Ghosh has, and the fact that he was picked over Indian veteran Subrata, he will really need to justify himself whenever he gets the chance.
The 31-year-old Subrata gets to be the captain for the Unpicked XI due to his vast experience.