Kerala’s dashing duo

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Though their I-League expectations took a beating with Chirag United Kerala being downgraded, Usman Ashik and Shyjumon can dream of playing for India, if they are selected from the ongoing national camp for the under-22 AFC Qualifiers in Bengaluru.

The two promising young players unearthed from nowhere by Chirag’s assistant coach Bino George are slowly making progress.

There are among 42 other players who are taking part in the three-day camp that began on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old Usman and 20-year-old Shyjumon were midseason signings of Chirag. Usman, a bubbly midfielder was discovered in a seven’s tournament in Malappuram, while Shyjumon sneaked into the I-League from his stint with now non-existent Chandni FC in Kozhikode.

Meanwhile, another Malayali — Sreerag V. G. of Sree Kerala Varma College — has been called to the Pailan Arrows (India youth team) camp, also in Bengaluru.

The All-India Football Federation informed that 30 candidates would be shortlisted from the 44-member squad and would be included in a preparatory camp to be held from May 23 to June 20. AIFF Technical Director Rob Baan will scrutinise the selection procedures.

List of 44 players taking part in the selection camp are:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Jayanta Pual (East Bengal), Ravi Kumar (Pailan Arrows), Ricardo Cardozo (TFA), Soram Poirei Angamba (Shillong Lajong).

Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Bikramjit Singh, Vishal Kumar, Souvik Ghosh, Prathamesh Maulinkar, Deepak Devrani, Lalrozama (All Pailan Arrows), Irfan Khan, Narayan Das, Yumnam Chingkhei (All TFA), David (Pune FC), Abhishek Das (East Bengal), Ramandeep Singh (Air India).

Midfielders: Bikramjit Singh, Pronoy Halder, Ognam Milan Singh, Thirthankar Sarkar, Allwyn George, Rajinder Kumar, Akshay Kumar Mall (All Pailan Arrows), Simranjit Singh, Ravinder Singh (Both TFA), Niroshan Mani, Stephene Baretto, Rowlin Borges (All Sporting Clube de Goa), Ganeshan (Pune FC), Deepak Prakash (HAL), Lalrindika Ralte (Churchill Brothers), Shyju Mon (Chirag Kerala), Romeo Fernandes, Brain Masceranhas (Both Dempo), Clifton Dias (Salgaocar), Manish Bhargav (Mohun Bagan), Usman Ashik (Chirag Kerala)

Forwards: Holicharan Narzary, Malswam Fela (Both Pailan Arrows), Pankaj Sona (TFA), Jeje Lalpekhlua (Pune FC), Manandeep Singh (Air India).