India want to acclimatise to artificial turf ahead of Afghanistan clash

The Indian football team on Saturday got down to training here, seeking to get acclimatised to the artificial turf ahead of back-to-back 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Afghanistan and Oman.

The team underwent a passing session followed by a short stretching session under strength and conditioning coach Luka Radman at the artificial turf of the HTC Sports Academy in the capital. The medical team was seen monitoring and taking notes of all players who were present.

The squad is scheduled to depart from India on Monday. Following the game against Afghanistan on November 14, they will travel to Muscat to cross swords with Oman on November 19.

Coach Igor Stimac mentioned that the match is "on an artificial turf" so they need to train in similar conditions to get acclimatised as soon as possible.

"There is a long travel in front of us, a different climate and a match on an artificial pitch. We needed to train on an artificial turf to get acclimatised soon," he said.

"It's most important that we are together now and are concentrating on the upcoming games. We need to work on the players' movements and passing. These days of training will be extremely crucial in order to stay on top of our preparation against Afghanistan," Stimac stated.

Adil Khan, Amrinder Singh, Sarthak Golui, Raynier Fernandes, Vinit Rai, Sahal Abdul Samad, Brandon Fernandes, Mandar Rao Dessai, Jackichand Singh, Manvir Singh, Seiminlen Doungel and Subhasish Bose have reported to the camp while others will join in the next couple of days.

"It is an away game, so we have to be more cautious and utilise the opportunities that we get. We are monitoring all the players and we'll fix our strategy accordingly," Stimac added.