Sunil Chhetri’s absence a big miss but India confident of good show against Oman, UAE: Gurpreet Singh

India football team will take on Oman and UAE this week in Dubai in international friendlies as they return to competitive action at the international level for the first time in over a year.

India are also set to return to international football for the first time in more than a year when they take on Oman and UAE in Dubai in international friendlies on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively. However, the Blue Tigers will be without their most-capped player and captain Sunil Chhetri who is recovering from Covid-19. The average age of India's squad which will take on the Asian powerhouses is 24 but head coach Igor Stimac is hopeful that the young squad will be able to play fearlessly and enjoy their time out on the field. India are raring to go in its first international match after November 2019 and many of them have done well in the recent Indian Super League for their respective franchises. The absence of Chhetri, the second-highest international goal-getter among active players, will be felt greatly but India did pull off a goal-less draw against Asian champions Qatar in Doha without the star striker in a 2022 World Cup qualifying round match in 2019.