With seven titles to their name, India have been the dominant side in the history of the SAFF Championship. They won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 1993 under coach Jiri Pesek, with defender VP Sathyan as the skipper. India's last win came under the tutelage of Stephen Constantine back in 2015. However, barring those two occasions, all the triumphs have come under an Indian head coach.
On October 4, Sunil Chhetri and co. will take the field in their tournament opener against Bangladesh and will want nothing less than three points. Head coach Igor Stimac has named a 23-man squad for the competition.