Nijo Gilbert to lead Kerala in Santosh Trophy; ten new faces in the squad

Nijo Gilbert to lead Kerala in 77th Santosh Trophy. Ten players to make debut. Group A: Kerala, Goa, Chhattisgarh, J&K. Rain affected preparations. Friendly vs Muthoot FC, Lakshadweep on Oct 7. Six groups, winners to final phase in Arunachal Pradesh. Three best second-placed teams, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh in main phase. Team announced: Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielders, Forwards. Coaches: Satheevan Balan, P.K. Assis, Harshal Rahman, Manager: Sudhir Kumar.

Midfielder Nijo Gilbert will lead former champion Kerala in the 77th Santosh Trophy National football championship. Ten players will be making their Santosh Trophy debut.

Kerala is in Group ‘A’ and plays its first phase matches at Vasco da Gama in Goa, with its opener against Gujarat on October 11. Goa, Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir are the other teams in the group.

Kerala, a seven-time champion, has not had the best of preparations this time around.

“I always get a sort of average team, not many extraordinary players, but after our training, practice matches and after assessing and correcting things, the team gets set by the time it plays its first match. But rain has been a big villain this season,” Satheevan Balan, the team’s head coach, told The Hindu from Thenipalam, Malappuram, on Wednesday evening.

“Our practice matches against strong teams like Kerala Police and Gokulam Kerala had to be cancelled because of rain. Now, we have a friendly match against Muthoot FC – a Kerala Premier League team – on Thursday and a match against Lakshadweep, which has its Santosh Trophy camp in the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border near Wayanad, on October 7.”

The first phase will have six groups and the winners of each group will get an automatic entry into the Santosh Trophy’s final phase in Arunachal Pradesh. Apart from that, three best second-placed teams along with last year’s winners Karnataka, runner-up Meghalaya and final phase host Arunachal Pradesh will play in the main phase.

The team: Goalkeepers: K. Muhammed Azhar (Mlp), Sidharth Rajeevan Nair (Koz), P.P. Muhammed Nishad (Mlp). Defenders: Belgin Bolster (Tvm), G. Sanju (Ekm, Vice-capt.), R. Shinu (Tvm), Mohammed Salim (Ktm), Nithin Madhu (Ekm), R. Sujith, K.P. Sarath (Tsr). Midfielders: Nijo Gilbert (Tvm, Capt.), V. Arjun (Koz), G. Jithin (Pkd), N.P. Akbar Sidhique (Mlp), M. Rashid (Ksd), E.K. Rizwan Ali (Knr), Bijesh Balan (Tsr), Abdhu Raheem (Idk). Forwards: E. Sajeesh, S. Muhammed Ashiq (Pkd), B. Naresh, K. Junain (Mlp). Chief coach: Satheevan Balan. Assistant coach: P.K. Assis. Goalkeeper coach: Harshal Rahman. Manager: Sudhir Kumar.