The Jharkhand team for the Santosh Trophy at Tata Football Academy on Monday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, May 2: Tata Football Academy (TFA) defender Irfan Khan will lead the Jharkhand team for the Santosh Trophy 65th National Football Championship that is scheduled to be held at Tinsukia in Assam from May 6 to 30.

The 20-member squad that was announced by Jharkhand Football Association vice-president Ramesh Mehta today, included eight TFA cadets and five boys from Jamshedpur and two each from Ramgarh, Chakradharpur and Bokaro and one from Ranchi.

The outfit was picked on the basis of performances during a week-long training camp and selection trials held in Jamshedpur.

Beside Irfan, those making the cut in the state squad include Ravinder Singh, Sanjay Balmuchu, Satish Patel, Amit Kumar, Sheikh Mustafa, Randhan Meitei, Maan Singh Kisku from TFA, Suresh Kalindi, Jagtu Hembrom, Jagdish Sardar, Totan Ghosh and Kartik Mukhi from Jamshedpur.

While Bosen Murmu and Azad Ali made the cut from Ramgarh, Ramizul Islam and Subhajit Basu were selected from Bokaro.

S. Gagrai and Md Sajid made the cut from Chakradharpur. Raju Mandal was the lone guy selected from state capital Ranchi. J. Behera and P.K. Kundu were named and as coach and manager for the squad respectively. The state outfit will comprise two strikers, seven mid-fielders, nine defenders and two goalkeepers.

“We lack proper defenders and hence added teeth to our defence by picking nine boys in the squad,” said coach Behera. He added that the outfit was expected to perform well this time.

The state team had cut a sorry figure during the 2008 edition of the Santosh Trophy held in Jammu and Kashmir. The teams reached Srinagar sans kits — jerseys, shoes, socks and tracksuits.

To rub salt on wounds, the state boys were drubbed badly by Karnataka.

The squad leaves for Tinsukia tomorrow.