Kolhapur District midfielder Nikhil Kadam has been appointed captain of the Maharashtra (WIFA) team that will be participating in the qualifying round of the 77th National Football Championship for the AIFF Santosh Trophy 2023-24 to be held at Kolhapur from October 13 to 22, 2023.
The Maharashtra player are all smiles as they pose with WIFA Hon. Gen. Secretary Souter Vaz, Head Coach Paresh Shivalkar (both centre) and support staff before their departure to Kolhapur.
Mumbai District striker Himanshu Patil has been named as the vice-captain of the 22-member team.
The 22-member Maharashtra team was selected under the supervision of Head Coach Paresh Shivalkar of Pune District, a former Maharashtra, Air India and Mahindra United striker and Assistant Coach Ryan D’Souza of Mumbai District, also a former Maharashtra striker and Union Bank of India player. Sunil Poojari of Thane District and Jai Joshi of Mumbai District will accompany the team as Manager and Physiotherapist respectively. The Goalkeeping Coach of the team is Kunal Sawant of Mumbai District.
The squad comprise of four players from Nagpur, 10 from Mumbai, four from Kolhapur, three from Pune and one from Gondia.
Maharashtra in drawn with Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Lakshadweep and Tripura. Maharashtra meet Andaman & Nicobar in the opening match on Friday.
The 22-member team: Paramjeet Singh Baghal (Gondia), Kamran Ansari, Abid Sheikh, Yash Shukla, Mohd. Rizwan (all Nagpur), Malhar Mohal, Durvesh Nijap, Umesh Perambra, Deepak Patil, Shanon Pereira, Armash Ansari, Advait Shinde, Johnson Mathews, Himanshu Patil (Vice-Captain), Arfat Ansari (all Mumbai), Nikhil Kadam (Captain), Pavan Mali, Arbaz Pendhari, Sanket Salokhe (all Kolhapur), Vinay Kondamuri, Shivkumar Shetty, Satish Hawildar (all Pune).
Head Coach: Paresh Shivalkar (Pune), Assistant Coach: Ryan D’Souza (Mumbai), Manager: Sunil Poojari (Thane), Physiotherapist: Jai Joshi (Mumbai), Goalkeeping Coach: Kunal Sawant (Mumbai).
Schedule:
Fri – Oct 13: Maharashtra vs Andaman & Nicobar
Sun – Oct 15: Maharashtra Vs Lakshadweep
Tue – Oct 17: Maharashtra Vs Andhra Pradesh
Fri – Oct 20: Maharashtra Vs Tripura
Sun – Oct 22: Maharashtra Vs Telangana