Pre-Olympic qualifier: India hope for an en core

Confident after the 2-1 first-leg win at Pune, India travel to Myanmar hoping to make the advantage count in the return fixture of the pre-Olympic qualifier match in Yangon on Wednesday.

To advance to the next stage, India would have to rely on the central midfield partnership of Jewel Raja and Shilton D’Silva, who were impressive in the first leg.

While Arindam Bhattacharya, Nirmal Chhetri and Mohanraj have missed the flight to Yangon due to injury, Robin Singh and CS Sabeeth have been included in the list of 18 after missing the home game due to their registration not being completed.

Coach Desmond Bulpin said, “Myanmar is a technically sound side and for once, the size of our Indian players is bigger than them. Hopefully, with long balls and from set pieces, we can cause them trouble and I believe this is the first time we have an advantage in that quarter,” he said.