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Former India head coach Stephen Constantine handed out 40 debuts in his four-years at the helm of the national side. Except for Jeje Lalpekhlua and Sunil Chhetri, all the other players who played in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 were given their debuts by Constantine, giving India a larger, more efficient player pool for the national team. However, after an early exit at the Asian Cup despite a 4-1 win over Thailand in their opening match, Constantine stepped down from the top job, paving the way for Stimac to take charge of the national team.
Stimac himself has fielded three debutants already since becoming the head coach. A larger playing pool has resulted in several players being left out of the national side due to stiff competition.
Here is a look at the five players who could use the upcoming Indian Super League season to their advantage to get back into the national team.
#5 Narayan Das
Narayan Das was a pivotal member of Constantine's setup for a long time till the AFC Asian Cup 2019. He formed a formidable defensive partnership with Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan and Anas Edathodika at the back. This was seldom changed by Constantine until Jerry Lalrinzuala and Salam Ranjan came into the fore. Eventually, over the time, he lost his place to a more composed and settled Subhasish Bose.
With Carlos Delgado, Gaurav Bora and Lalchhuanmawia at the back, Das needs to combine well on the left wing in offence and defence to have any hope of propelling Odisha FC into the top four . Only then will he have a chance to replace Subhasish Bose, who is well set for the India duties.
#4 Michael Soosairaj
After taking the I-League by storm in Chennai City's maiden season, Michael Soosairaj was an instant hit in the player market. He switched to Jamshedpur FC in the ISL and showed glimpses of brilliance and excellence. His good work earned him a call-up to the Indian team for the King's Cup 2019 in Thailand. Soosairaj did make an appearance but was rather lacklustre and was not shortlisted for the two FIFA World Cup 2022 qualification games against Qatar and Oman.
Now with ATK, Soosairaj is part of a team that has a very strong midfield and attack to perform well and take ATK to the pinnacle. He can do it while also being supported in reaching his personal targets. However, all that strength and depth also means added competition to find a place in the team with the likes of Javier Hernandez, Carl McHugh, David Williams, Edu Garcia, Jobby Justin and Roy Krishna all in the mix for the same starting places. If Soosairaj does manage to nail down a regular spot in the team, he could just get back into the National side.
#3 Jobby Justin
Jobby Justin was the talk of the town among the Indian football fraternity last season. With an unprecedented performance for East Bengal in the I-League under Alejandro Menendez, scoring nine goals in 17 games, making him a favourite of the Red and Gold faithful. Despite such fanfare, Justin swapped to rivals ATK for a huge transfer fee, making him one of the most highly paid Indian footballers of all time.
However, Stimac does not seem to acknowledge the brilliant show at the I-League by Justin. He did give him a few minutes in the Intercontinental Cup but nothing more Justin was dropped from both the games India played against Qatar and Oman in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Jobby Justin has to push himself to secure a place in the ATK line-up that is already stacked when it comes to attacking options, in order to convince Stimac that he deserved to turn out for the Blue Tigers.
#2 Vishal Kaith
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper for India. However, there is always room for improvement and squad depth. Vishal Kaith was the third choice keeper for India in the Constantine era, a title which he seems to have lost now to Kamaljit Singh under Stimac.
Kaith, now with Chennaiyin FC has to battle it out against some experienced campaigners like Karanjit Singh and Sanjiban Ghosh to play regularly for the Marina Machans between the sticks if he hopes to claim a spot in the national team.
#1 Jeje Lalpekhlua
Jeje Lalpekhlua, once the automatic choice to partner Sunil Chhetri upfront has been struggling to make his way into the national team as well as in professional football. He aggravated a knee injury he sustained during the AFC Asian Cup 2019 and has been out of action ever since. He missed the King's Cup, Intercontinental Cup and the two FIFA World Cup qualification games after that as a result.
He also missed Chennaiyin FC's AFC Cup game against Abhani Dhaka in May due to surgery. Jeje's absence has forced Stimac to rotate the strikers around Chhetri by giving chances to Manvir Singh, Balwant Singh and Farukh Choudhary. Neither of them has been able to shown consistency in their performance.
Jeje Lalpekhlua is still not declared match-fit for Chennaiyin FC's first game of the season on October 23 in Goa. If he can regain fitness, Jeje has a good chance to get back to his old, lucid form and return to national team alongside Chhetri.
