Abneet Bharti joins India camp in Kochi, six years after stint with Kerala Blasters

Defender Abneet Bharti, who plays in Bolivia, has joined the Indian men’s national camp in Kochi for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Hong Kong.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed on Wednesday that the 27-year-old centre-back, “who plays for Bolivian club Academia del Balompie Boliviano” has joined Khalid Jamil’s camp in preparation for the March 31 fixture at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi.

With the arrival of Bharti, there are two foreign-born players in the Indian camp. Bharti, born in Nepal, has an Indian passport, but had not been called up before. Former Australian striker Ryan Williams, who recently accepted Indian citizenship, is also part of the squad.

Interestingly, Bharti has returned to a city he is familiar with, having had a short spell with Kerala Blasters in 2019-20. He joined the Kochi-based ISL club at 21, when ace defender Sandesh Jhingan was part of the squad. However, Bharti did not make a senior team appearance and left the club the next year.

It is unclear if Bharti will make his India debut next Tuesday as he is awaiting FIFA clearance. It was the same case with Williams, who had been added to the India squad in the previous international window for a tie against Bangladesh, but did not get a timely clearance.

Bharti did his schooling in Nigeria before returning to India, where he played for BGS International School and Shastri FC. In between, he was called up to the India Under-16 camp.

Bharti trained with Geylang International in Singapore before moving to Spain to join Real Valladolid's academy. He also attracted interest from German clubs Eintracht Frankfurt and Anderlecht, but made his professional debut with Poland’s Podbeskidzie and went on to play in Portugal for Sintrense.

After his unsuccessful stint with Kerala Blasters, Bharti played in the Czech Republic and did loan spells in Kyrgyzstan, Panama, Argentina and now Bolivia.