The 22-member Maharashtra (WIFA) has been selected to participate in the West Zone qualifiers for the Senior Men’s National Football Championship 2021-22. The Maharashtra team is scheduled to depart for Jaipur on Monday evening.
The selection committee has named Mumbai District’s Mrunal Tandel as the captain and Kiran Pandhare of Solapur District as the vice-captain. Augusto D’Silva is the Head coach of the team.
Maharashtra is placed in Group-B along with hosts Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. They open their campaign with a match against Madhya Pradesh on Friday at the Poornima University, Jaipur. In the second group match, Maharashtra will meet Rajasthan on Sunday.
Group-A comprises Goa, Gujarat, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and the league matches have been completed at the M.K. Bhavnagar University Stadium, Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Host Gujarat defeated fancied Goa 1-0 in the concluding league match to finish atop the group and qualified for the final round.
The team – Goalkeepers: Sukhadev Patil (Kolhapur), Uthkarsh Deshmukh (Jalgaon).
Defenders: Alazhar Delhiwala, Yash Vanveru, Aniket Panchal (all Mumbai), Stanely Peter, Rohit Kanojia (both Nagpur).
Midfielders: Keegan Pinto, Siddharth Colaco, Vicent Rayan, Advait Shinde, Mrunal Tandel, Aman Gaikwad (all Mumbai), Rohit Ravindra Jain (Hingoli), Vasu Kanojia, Bhuvan Jerpoth (Nagpur), Shaikh Awez (Nanded), Kiran Pandhare (Solapur).
Forwards: Sufiyan Shaikh, Aimar A. Adam (both Pune), Sanket Salokhe (Kolhapur), Armash Nasir Ansari (Mumbai).
Head coach: Augusto D’Silva (Mumbai), Technical Director: Irenio Vaz (Mumbai), Manager: Mathew Susainathan (Pune), Physio: Sanket Thakar (Mumbai).