Snehasish Chakraborty to lead Bengal in Santosh Trophy

Kolkata: Snehasish Chakraborty will lead Bengal in the ongoing National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy as the Indian Football Association announced a 20-member squad. Hosts Bengal, who are the last year`s runners-up, will begin their campaign against Delhi in the quarterfinal league match on July 30. Twenty-nine times champions Bengal will miss the services of star defender and East Bengal captain Saumik Dey who did not report to the camp due to fever. Ace goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal has also been ruled out after sustaining an injury during a practice match.Bengal left out striker Bikas Nergary and midfielders Lalkamal Bhowmick, Tapan Maity and Mohammad Rafique from their 26-member probables. Seeded directly into the quarterfinals, Bengal have been clubbed with Tamil Nadu, Delhi and the winners of fourth pre-quarters between Kerala and Mizoram. The other group of the quarterfinal league has reigning champions Goa, Services, Karnataka and Punjab. The Squad:Goalkeepers: Sandip Nandy, Somnath Khara (both Chirag United), Abhra Mondol (East Bengal) Defenders: Dhanarajan R, Safar Sardar, Arnab Mondol (all Chirag United), Habibur Rahaman, Sheikh Azim (both Mohun Bagan), Anupam Sarkar, Rajib Ghosh (both Mohammedan SC) Mid-fielders: Gouranga Dutta, Denson Devadas, Jayanta Sen (all Chirag United), Snehasish Chakraborty, Souvik Chakrabarty (both Mohun Bagan), Subhsash Chakrabarty (Mumbai FC) Forwards: Shankar Oraon (Chirag United), Tarif Ahmed (ONGC), Nilendra Dewan (Mohammedan SC), Robin Singh (East Bengal); Coach: Shabir Ali. PTI