Asian Cup 2019: Twitter reacts to India's New Kits; 28-Man Squad

The Indian football team announced a 28-member squad which would be flying to Abu Dhabi for participating in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and the double friendly against Oman and Syria on 27th and 30th December. They also unveiled the new kits, manufactured by Six5Six, at a ceremony in Delhi on Wednesday.

The team would board the flight from New Delhi on Thursday. Jerry Lalrinzuala and Nishu Kumar couldn't make the cut as they were injured. On the contrary, Sahal Abdul Samad, Komal Thatal, Nikhil Poojary, and Bikash Jairu got themselves axed from the earlier 34-member probable squad.

Here is the 28-member squad:

Goalkeepers - Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (Bengaluru FC), Amrinder Singh (Mumbai City FC), Arindam Bhattacharya (ATK), Vishal Kaith (FC Pune City)

Defenders - Pritam Kotal (Delhi Dynamos), Lalruatthara (Kerala Blasters), Sandesh Jhingan (Kerala Blasters), Anas Edathodika (Kerala Blasters), Salam Ranjan Singh (East Bengal), Sarthak Golui (FC Pune City), Subhasish Bose (Mumbai City FC), Narayan Das (Delhi Dynamos)

Midfielders - Udanta Singh (Bengaluru FC), Jackichand Singh (FC Goa), Pronay Halder (ATK), Vinit Rai (Delhi Dynamos), Rowllin Borges (Northeast United FC), Anirudh Thapa (Chennaiyin FC), Germanpreet Singh (Chennaiyin FC), Ashique Kuruniyan (FC Pune City), Halicharan Narzary (Kerala Blasters FC), Lallianzuala Chhangte (Delhi Dynamos)

Strikers- Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru FC), Jeje Lalpekhlua (Chennaiyin FC), Balwant Singh (ATK), Manvir Singh (FC Goa), Farukh Choudhary (Jamshedpur FC), Sumeet Passi (Jamshedpur FC)

Stephen Constantine and Praful Patel also were a part of the kit launch

Earlier in the day, the Blue Tigers also launched their new kits in a glitzy function in New Delhi. Nike were the previous sponsors of the Indian football team.

The contract between the two parties expired and the AIFF signed a new sponsorship deal with Six5Six on Tuesday. The highest governing body of football announced the same via their official website.

Seven members of the squad - Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Sandesh Jhingan, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Rowllin Borges, Shubhasish Bose, and Pritam Kotal - walked onto the stage, wearing the new kit. Stephen Constantine and Sunil Chhetri took part in a press conference where they answered the questions from the media representatives later.

The Twitteratis used all their creativity to voice their opinions. Here are the quirkiest of the lot:

One ought to note that this is not the final 28-member squad that will represent India in the quadrennial extravaganza.

It would be cut down to 23 later. India failed to qualify for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup and will be making an appearance after eight long and arduous years.

India begins their 2019 AFC Asian Cup campaign against Thailand on the 6th of January. It will be followed by matches against the hosts UAE on 10th January and Bahrain on 14th January.

If the Blue Tigers finish in the top two or finish in the top four amongst the best third-placed teams, they would qualify to the knockout stage.