Nepal-born defender Abneet Bharti has joined the Indian senior men’s team camp in Kochi ahead of the AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Hong Kong, the AIFF said on Wednesday. The development comes a day after Ryan Williams was named in the squad for the same fixture. As things stand, India now have two foreign-based players in the camp for the first time — 27-year-old defender Bharti and 32-year-old winger Williams who recently obtained his Indian passport. Williams had missed the Bangladesh match as his FIFA clearance arrived late and the Bengaluru FC player is now set for his much-anticipated India debut against Hong Kong on March 31.
India are already out of contention for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia and are now looking to rebuild the side.
With experienced defender Sandesh Jhingan in the fag end of his career, the team is in need of a reliable centre-back alongside Anwar Ali, and Bharti could be an option if he gets clearance.
However Bharti is still awaiting FIFA clearance, without which he cannot make his debut.
Head coach Khalid Jamil will assess him in the camp ahead of the Hong Kong match.
Born in Nepal, Bharti started as a goalkeeper during his school days in Nigeria before switching roles after returning to India, where he played for BGS International School and Shastri FC.
His performances earned him a call-up to the India U-16 camp.
He later trained with Geylang International in Singapore before moving to Spain to join Real Valladolid’s academy.
He also had trials in Germany and attracted interest from clubs like Eintracht Frankfurt and Anderlecht.
Bharti turned professional with Poland’s Podbeskidzie and went on to play in Portugal for Sintrense.
A potential move to Mexican club América was cut short due to a serious knee injury. He returned to India with Kerala Blasters in 2019, but the stint did not work out.
Since then, he has played in the Czech Republic and had loan spells in Kyrgyzstan, Panama, Argentina and now Bolivia.
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