The India U23 men’s team will be playing for the first time this year with their last action coming in the Asian Games in September 2023. The side will travel to Kuala Lumpur to play two friendlies against Malaysia on 22 & 25 March respectively. Former international and current NorthEast United assistant coach Nausad Moosa has been appointed as the head coach of the U-23 team. The camp for the U-23 team will begin on 15 March 2024.
The final 23 players from the probable list of 26 players was declared for the friendlies against Malaysia on Tuesday, 19 March 2024. The squad is filled overwhelmingly with top performing U-23 players from ISL. Inter Kashi's Sandip Mandi is the sole representative from the I-league. Despite making into the probable list, Sanathoi Meetei and Samir Murmu from the recently concluded Santosh Trophy are not included in the main squad. Chennaiyin FC's Irfan Yadwad has also been left out.
The U-23 side is not in the best form as they picked up just a single win, that too a hard-fought one against SAFF nation Bangladesh in the 2022 Asian Games, last year. India had a disjointed squad in the competition because of the club vs country drama and could only reach the last-16 stage, to be eliminated by Saudi Arabia. Before that, the team failed to win a single match in the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers.
India U23 probable squad
Goalkeepers: Arsh Shaikh (Mohun Bagan Super Giant), Prabhsukhan Gill (East Bengal FC), Vishal Yadav (Jamshedpur FC)
Defenders: Bikash Yumnam (Chennaiyin FC), Shivaldo Singh (Bengaluru FC), Hormipam Ruivah (Kerala Blasters), Narender Gahlot (Odisha FC), Robin Yadav (Bengaluru FC), Sandip Mandi (Inter Kashi)
Midfielders: Abhishek Suryavanshi (Mohun Bagan Super Giant), Brison Fernandes (FC Goa), Mark Zothanpuia (Hyderabad FC), Mohammed Aimen (Kerala Blasters), Thoiba Singh Moirangthem (Odisha FC), Vibin Mohanan (Kerala Blasters)
Forwards: Abdul Rabeeh (Hyderabad FC), Gurkirat Singh (Mumbai City), Isak Vanlalruatfela (Odisha FC), Ninthoi Meetei (Chennaiyin FC), Mohammed Sanan (Jamshedpur FC), Parthib Gogoi (NorthEast United), Sivasakthi Narayanan (Bengaluru FC), Vishnu Valappill (East Bengal FC)
Head coach: Naushad Moosa
