How to watch India's friendlies against Oman and UAE? AIFF finds broadcasters: Report

The Indian Football Team is set to be back in action after almost 16 months as they last played an international fixture in November 2019. India will take on Oman and UAE in two international friendly matches scheduled on March 25 and March 29 respectively. Here's how to watch India's friendlies against Oman and UAE.

How to watch India's friendlies against Oman and UAE?

According to reports, there could be positive news coming for Indian football fans as both India vs Oman and India vs UAE friendlies will be telecasted live on television. As per rumours, AIFF has signed a deal with Eurosport to be the official broadcaster. An official announcement for the same could be expected soon.

The first international friendly between India vs Oman is scheduled to kick off on Thursday, 25th March at 7:15 PM IST. Meanwhile, the India vs UAE friendly is scheduled to kick off on Monday, 29th March at 9:45 PM IST. Both games will take place in Dubai with the first friendly to be held at the Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium while the second friendly will be played at the Zabeel Stadium.

Indian football squad

Ahead of the international friendlies against Oman and UAE, the biggest news from the Indian football team is that Sunil Chhetri is absent for the upcoming friendlies. Chhetri is reported to have contracted COVID-19 and as a result, is self-isolating currently. Below is the 27-member squad that will travel for the friendlies.

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Dheeraj Singh.

Defenders: Ashutosh Mehta, Akash Mishra, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Chinglensana Singh, Adil Khan, Mandar Rao Dessai, Mashoor Shereef.

Midfielders: Rowllin Borges, Lalengmawia, Jeakson Singh, Raynier Fernandes, Anirudh Thapa, Bipin Singh, Yasir Mohammad, Suresh Singh, Halicharan Narzary, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Ashique Kuruniyan.

Forwards: Manvir Singh, Ishan Pandita, Hitesh Sharma, Liston Colaco.

Igor Stimac insists young squad must play fearless football

Indian head coach Igor Stimac wants his young squad to play fearless football when the team faces a tough challenge from Oman and UAE in international friendlies. Stimac told AIFF TV, "We need to come to the pitch without any fear, we need to try to make our transitions properly, and we need to try and enjoy the possession that we have. That's what I want to ask of my players. As part of our footballing philosophy, we do not look for easy opponents. We can improve only by playing against better sides."