New Delhi: Bengal’s Syed Rahim Nabi was on Friday dropped from the national squad for the SAFF Football Championship. Chief coach Bob Houghton, who announced the 20-member squad in Chennai, has preferred Dempo’s Samir Naik to Nabi. The East Bengal player, however, is set to be included in the Bengal team for the Santosh Trophy, which will be announced on Saturday.

The Indian team leaves for the Maldives on Saturday. Houghton also dropped Baldeep Singh, Tarif Ahmed, K. Ajayan and Surkumar Singh. Except for Tarif, all others have been excluded because of injuries.

Bhaichung Bhutia has been retained captain. Under him, India won the SAFF Championship in Karachi in 2005.

The tournament will be held simultaneously in the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Group A matches involving India, Pakistan and the Maldives will be played Male and the group B matches will be played Colombo.Male and Colombo will hold a semi-final each on June 11. The final is in Colombo on June 15.

THE SQUAD — Goalkeepers: Subrata Paul (East Bengal) and Subhasis Roy Chowdhury (Mahindra United). Defenders: Samir Naik (Dempo), Mahesh Gawli (Dempo), Deepak Mondal (Mohun Bagan), Gourmangi Singh (Churchill Brothers), N.S. Manju (Mohun Bagan) and Anwar (JCT). Midfielders: Steven Dias (Mahindra United), N.P. Pradeep (Mahindra United), Climax Lawrence (Dempo), Rennedy Singh (JCT), Bungo Singh (Pune FC), Mehrajuddin Wadoo (East Bengal) and Kuttimani (Mumbai FC). Forwards: Bhaichung Bhutia (captain, Mohun Bagan), Sunil Chhetri (JCT), Manjit Singh (Mahindra United), Abhishek Yadav (Mumbai FC) and Sushil Singh (Mahindra United).

Chief coach: Bob Houghton. Assistant coaches: Savio Medeira and Marcus Pacheco. Manager: Pradeep Chowdhury.

India’s schedule — June 3: Vs Nepal; June 5: Vs Pakistan; June 7: Vs The Maldives.