Indian national team coach Wim Koevermans has named a 23-member squad for the international friendly match against Palestine at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi on February 6.

Japanese-born Arata Izumi and Keralite C.K. Vineeth earned their first call-ups to the Indian national team. Arata was born as the son to an Indian father and Japanese mother and he has recently obtained the Indian passport.

Sporting Clube de Portugal B striker Sunil Chhetri will be once again the captain of the Indian team, which has various changes in the squad although the core remains the same.

“We need to assess ourselves. We need more such matches,” Wim Koevermans told AIFF Media.

“Unless you play International Friendlies you cannot gauge where you stand. We stay grateful to AIFF for arranging the match,” Chhetri added. “The passion for the sport in the Kerala stays unparallel and we expect a full house cheering for us against Palestine.”

Please LIKE www.facebook.com/cpd81 to get all the latest and exclusive updates on the INDIA v PALESTINE match!

INDIA SQUAD

Goalkeepers
Subrata Pal (Prayag United SC), Sandip Nandy (Churchill Brothers SC), Karanjit Singh (Salgaocar FC)

Defenders
Nirmal Chettri (Mohun Bagan AC), Raju Eknath Gaikwad (East Bengal Club), Denzil Franco (Churchill Brothers SC), Souvik Ghosh (Pailan Arrows), Syed Rahim Nabi (Mohun Bagan AC), Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh (Prayag United SC), Gurjinder Kumar Singh (Pune FC)

Midfielders
Izumi Arata (Pune FC), Lalkamal Bhowmick (Prayag United SC), Francis Fernandes (Salgaocar SC), Alwyn George (Pailan Arrows), Mehtab Hossain (East Bengal Club), Clifford Miranda (Dempo SC), Anthony Pereira (Dempo SC), Jewel Raja Sheikh (Mohun Bagan AC), Lenny Rodrigues (Churchill Brothers SC), C.K. Vineeth (Prayag United SC)

Forwards
Sunil Chhetri (Sporting Clube de Portugal ‘B’), Manandeep Singh (East Bengal Club), Sushil Kumar Singh (Shillong Lajong FC)

Stand-Byes
Subhasish Roy Chowdhury (Dempo SC), L. Dhanachandra Singh (Prayag United SC), Sandesh Jhingan (United Sikkim FC), Arnab Mondal (East Bengal Club), Gurwinder Singh (East Bengal Club), Shylo Malswam Tulunga (Prayag United SC), Rocus Lamare (Salgaocar FC), Lalrindika Ralte (East Bengal Club), Peter Carvalho (Dempo SC), W. Tomba Singh (Churchill Brothers SC), Asif K. (Prayag United SC), Joaquim Abranches (Dempo SC), Robin Singh (East Bengal Club), Jeje Lalpekhlua (Pune FC),

Officials
Wim Koevermans (Head Coach), Savio Medeira (Assistant Coach), Marcus Pacheco (Goalkeeping Coach)

Please LIKE www.facebook.com/cpd81 to get all the latest and exclusive updates on the INDIA v PALESTINE match!