There was a recent article in the BBC about British players representing Pakistan’s football team. One of them, Harun Hamid, scored probably the most important goal in Pakistan’s football history against Cambodia in the World Cup Qualifiers last month. Pakistan’s manager, Stephen Constantine, who used to manage India, stressed the importance of these foreign-born players, especially since Pakistan doesn’t have a professional football league and has very little footballing infrastructure.
India is in much better shape than Pakistan in this regard, with the Indian Super League providing match fitness and competitive football to Indian players. Therefore, India’s been able to focus on producing homegrown talent and this has worked to an extent, with some good results for the national team in the past year, beating Lebanon and Kuwait in the semi-final and final respectively to win the 2023 SAFF Championship. However, one wonders how much stronger India’s team could become if they, like Pakistan, allowed dual nationals or holders of India’s overseas citizenship card to represent their nation. Here are some of the players I’ve found who are eligible and/or have expressed interest in playing for India in recent years:
Yan Dhanda – 24-years-old – attacking midfielder – Ross County – born in Birmingham, has an Indian Punjabi Sikh father. Was once on Liverpool’s youth team and scored 5 goals for Swansea. Dhanda is probably the most high-profile footballer to express an interest in playing for India, when he responded to Indian football administrator Shaji Prabhakaran on X/Twitter.
Dilan Markanday – 22-years-old – winger – Blackburn Rovers – born in Barnet, London to Indian Punjabi Sikh parents. Spurs youth academy graduate who has made an appearance for them.
Sarpreet Singh – 24-years-old – attacking midfielder – Hansa Rostock – born in Auckland to Indian Punjabi Sikh parents. Singh made two appearances for Bayern Munich before going on various loan deals to Nurnberg and Jahn Regensburg. This one is very unlikely considering he has already been capped and scored for New Zealand, however, if India allowed dual nationals to play, he could technically switch allegiance under FIFA rules.
Manprit Sarkaria – 27-years-old – left winger – Sturm Graz – born in Austria to Indian Punjabi Sikh parents, Sarkaria is an established player in the Austrian Bundesliga and was crucial in Sturm Graz’s campaign to win the Austrian cap. He received his first cap for Austria against Belgium last month, also making this one unlikely, but he could also switch allegiance under FIFA rules.
Danny Batth – 33-years-old – centre back – Norwich City – born in the West Midlands, Batth has an Indian Punjabi Sikh father and is a stalwart of the English football leagues. He made 195 appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers; 100 appearances for Stoke; and has appeared three times for Norwich this season. Batth has attempted to play for India before, but was left frustrated by their passport regulations, despite being eligible to play under FIFA rules.
Harmeet Singh – 33-years-old – defensive midfielder – Sandefjord – born in Oslo to an Indian Punjabi Sikh family, Singh has made his way around Europe, including spells at Feyenoord and Molde. He’s been nicknamed the ‘Norwegian Iniesta’ and appeared for Norway five times from 2012-14 but is eligible to play for India under FIFA rules.
Arjan Raikhy – 21-years-old – midfielder – Leicester City – born in Wolverhampton to an Indian Punjabi Sikh family, Raikhy is a Villa/Brom academy product. Whie he never appeared for Villa’s senior team and is yet to appear for Leicester this season, he’s made 12 appearances on loans to National League sides Stockport County and Grimsby Town.
Jagvir Singh – 22-years-old – winger – Aarhus Fremad – born in Greve Strand, Denmark to Indian Punjabi Sikh parents, Singh began his career at Brondby’s youth academy and made four senior appearances for them in the Superliga. He currently plays at Aarhus Fremad in the 2nd Division, on loan from 1st Division club Fredericia.
Harpreet Ghotra – 20-years-old – central midfielder – Eintracht Frankfurt II – born in Frankfurt to Indian Punjabi Sikh parents, Ghotra is a product of Frankfurt’s youth academy and has already made 13 appearances for their second team this season, however, he’s not yet played for the senior side.
Omid Singh – 32-years-old – winger – Havadar – born in Behbahan, Iran, Singh is eligible to play for the Indian national team through his Indian Punjabi Sikh father, who holds an Indian passport. Singh has made over 100 career appearances in the top two flights of Persian football and has expressed a past desire to play India after a phone call with national team coach Igor Stimac.
Mal Benning – 30-years-old – left back – Shrewsbury Town – born in West Bromwich to Indian Punjabi Sikh parents, Benning began his career at Walsall and made 46 appearances for them; before making over 200 appearances for Mansfield Town; 65 for Port Vale; and now plays for Shrewsbury in the English League one. In 2015, Benning expressed his desire to play for the Indian national team but said he wasn’t able to because he’d have to give up his British passport to get an Indian one – the same problem outlined by Yan Dhanda this year.
Rohan Luthra – 21-years-old – goalkeeper – Slough Town – perhaps one for the future, Luthra is a 6-foot-5 shot stopper born in England to Punjabi Indian parents. He was part of Crystal Palace’s youth academy and made his professional debut for Cardiff City in the Championship in March. While he currently plies his trade in the National League South (sixth tier of English football) for Slough Town, he has a bright future as he’s on loan from Cardiff.
So, in total, there’s a big mix of players here. Some of them are genuinely very strong - Dhanda, Markanday, and Sarkaray would 100% strengthen India’s current team. Others would help add squad depth and bring European football pyramid experience to the current squad. Of course, I’m not sure how likely it is that India will change their eligibility rules to allow these players to play. There are arguments for both sides - on the one hand, you could argue that plugging gaps in the team with dual nationals is a short-term solution and doesn’t do much to improve the quality of football and grassroots infrastructure in India as a whole. On the other hand, there are plenty of poorer nations that make use of dual nationals who grew up in the West to strengthen the quality of their team. 14 of Morocco’s 26 players at the 2022 World Cup were from the diaspora and their fairytale run would’ve surely helped to bring the sport to the forefront in Morocco, leading to increased investment and interest, which can only help in the long run.