Sivasakthi named in India’s provisional squad

CHENNAI: Young Tamil Nadu forward N Sivasakthi on Tuesday earned his maiden call up to the national set-up as head coach Igor Stimac picked him in the provisional 23-member squad for the ‘Blue Tigers’ camp that will begin on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old Sivasakthi, a vital cog in the Bengaluru FC wheel, has contributed six goals and three assists in 20 appearances in the Indian Super League 2022-23 season. Since BFC will be involved in the ISL final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Saturday, Sivasakthi will join the India camp on Sunday.

The players will train in Kolkata for five days before travelling to Imphal, where India will face Myanmar and Kyrgyz Republic in a tri-nation tournament later this month. The final squad, comprising 23 players, for the tournament will be announced later.

PROVISIONAL SQUAD: Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Phurba Lachenpa and Amrinder Singh; Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Naorem Roshan Singh, Anwar Ali, Akash Mishra, Chinglensana Singh, Rahul Bheke and Mehtab Singh; Midfielders: Suresh Singh Wangjam, Glan Martins, Rohit Kumar, Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Mohammad Yasir, Ritwik Das, Jeakson Singh, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Bipin Singh; Forwards: Manvir Singh, Sunil Chhetri and N Sivasakthi