India has dropped to 142 in the FIFA rankings, leaving former national players worried about the team’s decline. At a press conference in Kolkata, Blue Tigers head coach Khalid Jamil discussed how the team can improve and outlined several development plans.
Recently, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) took a major step by inviting two players of Indian origin Avneeth Bharati and Ryan Williams to the national camp. When asked whether more Indian-origin players (IOC) would be included in the future, Jamil said, “We are looking for Indian-origin players with passports. We have identified several IOC players and hope to call some of them for the next camp.”
Jamil declined to comment on reducing the foreign-player quota in the ISL. Regarding the lack of strikers in the national team, he said, “Strikers need to play more matches. The more they play, the better they get. The ISL hasn’t started this season yet. More matches will make them sharper. But I’m not saying we are playing poorly because there’s no ISL. I’ve received full support here from Kalyan sir, IM Vijayan, Shabbir Ali. After the Bangladesh match, morale was low, but they always supported me. So I can’t blame anyone. Everyone needs to be patient.”
The coach added, “The more friendly matches we play, the better. It’s best not to focus on rankings. We need positive thinking and collective planning to build a strong team.”
Notably, under Khalid Jamil, India finished third in the CAFA Cup but failed to qualify for the Asian Cup. On October 14, India lost 1–2 to Singapore and crashed out of the qualifiers. The team also failed to win the final ‘formality match’ against Bangladesh.
