From correspondents in Delhi, India, 11:01 PM IST

A 20-member Indian team led by Bhaichung Bhutia will leave Saturday for Maldives to compete in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup tournament.

Coach Bob Houghton has left out seasoned goalkeeper Sandip Nandy, who is injured. Subrata Paul and Subhashish Roy Chowdhary are the two goalkeepers in the squad.

Sushil Singh is the new striker in Houghton's armoury besides the captain, Sunil Chettri, Manjit Singh and Abhishek Yadav.

The SAFF Cup is being jointly hosted by Maldives and Sri Lanka from June 3-14. Defending champions India will open their campaign against Nepal Tuesday and all their group matches are in Maldives.

The Squad:

Goalkeepers: Subrata Paul, Subhashish Roy Chowdhary.

Defenders: Mahesh Gawli, Gouramangi Singh, Deepak Mondal, N.S. Manju, Anwar, Sameer Naik.

Midfielders: Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, N.P. Pradeep, Bungo Singh, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Renedy Singh and Kattimani

Forwards: Baichung Bhutia, Sunil Chetri, Manjit Singh, Abhishek Yadav, Sushil Singh

Chief coach: Bob Houghton; Goalkeeping coach: Marcus Pacheco; Assistant coaches: Savio Medeira and Stanley Rozario; Manager: Pradeep Chowdhary

(Staff Writer, © IANS)