Shillong, May 14: Ricky John Shabong has been included in the probables list for the Indian senior men’s football team’s participation in the Unity Cup, which will be held between India, Nigeria, Jamaica and Zimbabwe at the end of the month.
Ricky, a midfielder, is one of 28 names picked by India head coach Khalid Jamil. This will be whittled down to 23 players who will travel to London on 24th May for the tournament.
The Blue Tigers will assemble in Bengaluru for a brief camp after the completion of the Indian Super League 2025-26 season on 21st May.
The 23-year-old Ricky plays in the ISL for Punjab FC, which he has done since 2023-24. In that time he has appeared in 45 ISL matches for Punjab. Although he has yet to make it into the Indian senior team, Ricky has donned the Indian blue for its age-group teams in the past.
“The Unity Cup will be the perfect opportunity for us to prepare for the official tournaments like the SAFF Championship later this year. We need to utilise every available FIFA international window to prepare for the tournaments we have up ahead,” Jamil was quoted as saying on the All India Football Federation website today. “We have selected the 28 players for the preliminary squad, as per their performances in the ongoing ISL. We will have a couple of days to assess them before we pick the final 23.”
India (ranked 136th) will play Jamaica (71st) on 27th May. Nigeria (26th) and Zimbabwe (130th) will also be in action at the same time. The winners will meet in the final on 30th May and the losers in a third-place playoff the same day.
The India head coach feels that playing against stronger opposition will help boost the team.
“We are playing against strong teams that play at a good level. I think these matches will give a lot of confidence to the players and help us play at that level. We should play more matches like these,” said Jamil.
India’s 28-member preliminary squad:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Hrithik Tiwari, Albino Gomes
Defenders: Rahul Bheke, Nikhil Poojary, Roshan Singh Naorem, Abhishek Singh Tekcham, Anwar Ali, Sandesh Jhingan, Akash Mishra, Bijoy Varghese, Pramveer
Midfielders: Ashique Kuruniyan, Lalengmawia Ralte, Sahal Abdul Samad, Anirudh Thapa, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Noufal PN, Ricky Shabong
Forwards: Ryan Williams, Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, Suhail Ahmad Bhat, Edmund Lalrindika, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rahim Ali, Farukh Choudhary
(Photo: Punjab FC)