Unity Cup: IND U23 players got mixed amount of game-time

Not only that, now the Indian football team has no competitive games until November 2027. In this period, All India Football Federation (AIFF) was able to arrange two competitive friendlies against Jamaica (World Rank: 71) and Zimbabwe (World Rank: 130) at The Valley stadium of London. India also faced Jamaica twice when they travelled to the UK for the last time back in 2002

 

After seven Mohun Bagan Super Giant players (Vishal Kaith, Abhishek Singh, Sahal Samad, Anirudh Thapa, Manvir Singh & Liston Colaco) were forced to withdraw from the squad, head coach Khalid Jamil added a few players in place of them. Three of them were U23 players: Mohammed Sanan, Macarton Nickson and Nikhil Barla. Apart from them, Pramveer Singh and Ricky Shabong were already in the squad from earlier.

 

As several Mohun Bagan Super Giant players were absent who were key to the team, it left a window of opportunity for the young talents to prove themselves. As this season's ISL was not full-fledged and most of the clubs faced a financial crisis and failed to sign their full quota of foreign players made a lot of space for younger players to get game time. This season consisted of only 13 games for each team and every team had very little room for errors. Youth players stepped up and fulfilled the shoes that were given to them.

 

Performce of the U23 players in the ISL:

 

Mohammed Sanan of Jamshedpur has always shown consistency. He played all 13 league games and scored a brace in their 4-1 victory over 2-time champions Chennayin FC. Another stand out performer was side-back Nikhil Barla who played a total of 1170 minutes this season, giving Jamshedpur a solid foundation at the back. He assisted twice as well. 

 

18-year-old Centre Back Pramveer Singh took part 9 of Punjab FC's 13 league games, keeping 4 clean sheets and helping his team to stay in the league contention till the final matchweek. He was indeed one of the players to watch out for, who troubled so many experienced attackers. Apart from him, Punjab midfielder Ricky Shabong catched everyone's eyes, who started off all of the league games, playing his role to his full potential with and without the ball.

 

 

And, NorthEast United FC, who didn't have a season to remember, produced another talent to watch out for. Midfielder Macarton Nickson played around 70 minutes each game on average, scoring once against Odisha FC. Not enough game time in Unity Cup.

 

However, only Macarton Nickson and Ricky Shabong ended up with some health game-time under their belts. Nickson, who played a crucial role for his club NorthEast United FC throughout the ISL, played 82 minutes in the game against Zimbabwe to fight for third place after getting no minutes in the opening game. 

 

Also, Khalid Jamil relied on the Punjab FC midfielder Ricky Shabong in the last game, keeping him on the pitch for the full 90 minutes after keeping him on the pitch for just 8 minutes in the game against Jamaica. On the other side, players of U23 category like Nikhil Barla, Pramveer Singh and Mohammed Sanan didn't get sufficient game-time in the set of 180 minutes combined from these two friendlies.

 

All of them proved themselves very well in the recently concluded ISL but Jamshedpur FC's Nikhil and Sanan duo just spent 1 minute and 14 minutes respectively across two games. And, Pramveer Singh, who gave his everything for the Indian U23 side in the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers back in September 2025, didn't even get a single minute.

 

They will be hoping to get some minutes in the upcoming friendlies against Tajikistan, as they try to prove their talent in colour of blue as well.