It has been almost a year since the last time the Indian national football team played an international match, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic which brought the game to a standstill across the world in 2020.
The international window had to be postponed multiple times in 2020, so much so that the entire calendar year is set to pass without international action in Asia.
However, there is good news in the offing after the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) Competitions Committee approved new dates for the joint qualifiers of 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup 2023 on Wednesday.