The Khalid Jamil era began in Indian national team with Sunil Chhetri’s name missing from the 35-player probables list announced on Friday for the Cafa Nations Cup in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) did not mention whether Chhetri was dropped or the superstar of Indian football had opted out. Chhetri’s club Bengaluru FC have not started its pre-season yet due to the uncertainty over ISL-XII.
However, his clubmates Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Chinglensana Singh, Rahul Bheke, Roshan Singh Naorem and Suresh Singh are in the list of probables.
Chhetri came out of retirement in March to help India in their bid to qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. India drew one and lost one under then coach Manolo Marquez.
In a setback to Khalid, Mohun Bagan Super Giant may not release the seven players the new coach has called for the camp which has started in Bengaluru.
The Cafa Nations Cup is outside the Fifa international calendar and Bagan are not keen to release the players who form the core of their team.
India play their first match on August 29 and the Fifa calendar for next month starts on September 1.
After the Durand Cup, Bagan will prepare for their AFC Champions League 2 group stage matches where they host Ahal FC of Turkmenistan at the Salt Lake Stadium on September 16.
Bagan may also not release four players for India’s under-23 matches.
In 2023, before the Asian Games, the AIFF had a similar situation when clubs did not release their top players.