The All India Football Federation finally managed to put together a squad for the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The original squad was announced by chief coach Igor Stimac on 1st August. But the squad had to undergo a sea of change with only nine from originally 22 making it to the revised 18-member squad. But questions came out following the selection of Azfar Noorani, the midfielder who earlier represented Kenkre FC, the relegated team from I-League, and joined Gokulam FC last week.

If Noorani, a left-sided winger from Mumbai, can get into the Indian squad, why did the AIFF not pick more players from the I-League to have a 22-member squad?

there are players in the same position in the I-League who did better than the player last season. In fact, as per InStat Sport, Noorani was the 17th best left-sided midfielder in India’s second-division league in the 2022-23. 

Noorani scored three goals and made two assists last season with one goal and one assist coming against Sudeva Delhi, also relegated from I-League. There’s R Lalthanmawia of Aizawl FC who is seventh in the list with three goals and five assists. There’s Sreenidi Deccan’s Songpu Singsit who is ninth on the list with two goals to his name. Sreenidi’s R Lalbiakliana is 11th and scored three goals and made the same number of assists. At 15 is former Sudeva Delhi player Carlos Pao who scored three goals.

Questions have also been raised after Bengaluru FC’s prominent striker Narayana Shivashakthi has been denied by the chief national coach for the Asian Games. Shiva when asked on the issue commented, “I expected I would be selected in the national team for the Asian Games.” The lanky forward had an inspiring show in the recently-concluded AFC Under-23 championship, especially against China where Indian team lost after a neck-to-neck fight.