Soccer: Jeje, 4 others missed on probable list for next month Kings Cup

Injured striker Jeje Lalpekhlua along with four others have been left out of the national team's probables' list for the Kings Cup football tournament in Thailand next month. India's newly-appointed head coach Igor Stimac Thursday announced the list of 37 probables for the preparatory camp ahead of the Kings Cup to be held in Buriram, Thailand from June 5-8. The camp will be held in New Delhi from May 20.

Jeje is suffering from a knee injury and didn't play during Chennaiyin FC's AFC Cup loss to Abahani Dhaka Ltd on Wednesday. He is set to undergo surgery in the third week of May. Besides Jeje, a host of other players who will miss the Thailand campaign are Halicharan Narzary (knee injury), Mandar Rao Desai (hamstring injury), Ashique Kuruniyan (knee injury), Narender Gehlot (knee injury) and Jerry Lalrinzuala.

"I respected the choice of the squad which represented India in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019. The rest of the players have been added post my research watching Hero I-League and Hero ISL matches. I found some players quite interesting, and have summoned them to the camp," Stimac was quoted as saying by an AIFF statement. "I congratulate all the players and wish them good luck. I am eagerly waiting to get on the task immediately. I have always cherished new challenges, and I am looking forward to coaching the Blue Tigers," he added.

The Kings Cup will be followed by the Hero Intercontinental Cup in July. The King's Cup is a FIFA-sanctioned international 'A' tournament being organised by the Thailand FA since 1968. India's previous participation in the King's Cup was in 1977. Hosts Thailand and Vietnam are the two other teams participating in the tournament.

Probables list:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Amrinder Singh, Kamaljit Singh.

Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Nishu Kumar, Rahul Bheke, Salam Ranjan Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Anwar Ali, Subhasish Bose, Narayan Das. Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Anirudh Thapa, Raynier Fernandes, Bikramjit Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh, Pronay Halder, Rowllin Borges, Germanpreet Singh, Vinit Rai, Sahal Abdul, Amarjit Singh, Redeem Tlang, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Nandha Kumar, Komal Thatal, Michael Soosairaj.

Forwards: Balwant Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Jobby Justin, Sumeet Passi, Farukh Choudhary, Manvir Singh.

(With inputs from agencies.)