Srinagar, Sep 7: The star-studded Mohun Bagan Football Club on Friday turned up at Kashmir University ground for their first morning training session after setting foot in Valley for their much-awaited clash against J&K-XI.
 The 22-member team led by its chief coach, Santosh Sairoo Kashyap and star striker, Odafa Onyeka Okolie trained at University ground amid light showers. Even in early morning fans turned up to get glimpse of popular football club of India.
 JK Bank Football team which also trains at Varsity ground kept eye on the visiting side.
 Bagan side popularly known as Mariners or Bengal Tigers arrived in Valley on Thursday for their two exhibition matches against hosts J&K-XI on Saturday at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar and September 11 in Jammu. At KU ground, it was their first outing on the field after landing in Valley and the team focussed on light drill exercises and also on shooting practice.
 The team was supposed to visit Gulmarg during the day. However, at last minute there was change of plan with only team officials going to Gulmarg while players and the coach preferred to enjoy Shikara ride in Dal Lake.
 J&K State Sports Council has deputed football coach Farooq Ahmad Mir and weightlifting coach, Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar as the liaison officers with the team.
 Meanwhile, Mohun Bagan coach has promised a good show and focussed on the upcoming two matches.
 Talking to Greater Kashmir on the sidelines of training session at KU, Chief Coach, Santosh Sairoo Kashyap said, “It is always great to be in Valley. It is my second visit to Valley as I had been here during 1986 Federation Cup. Our team is fully ready and I promise football crazy fans of Valley a good show”.
 “For us every match is match whether it is exhibition or league match. That is why we have brought in all our top stars here like, Odafa and Tolgay Ozbey. Fans can expect us to strike with full might in match and there will be no leniency on our part for host side,” he said.
 About the hospitality and facilities he said, “Nothing can be complained about that. It is World class. We have been put at best hotel in the City and the view is mesmerizing. The rainy weather has made it more delightful”.
MOHUN BAGAN TEAM: Sudipta Banerjee, Shilton Paul, Naveen Kumar, Celestine Anyichie Echezona, Meherajuddin Wadoo, Deepak, Mohan Sarkar, Warundeep, Biswajit Saha, Lalrozama Fanai, Lalrin Fela, Manish Bhargav, Stanley Okoroigwe, SK. Jewel Raja, Denson Devadas, Manish Maithani, Bijendra Rai, Arjun Chatterjee, Odafa Onyeka Okolie, Anil Kumar P.K, Dipendu Biswas, Tolgay Ozbey, Anjan Kumar Mitra (Managing Director), Debashis Dutta (Director), Alokesh Banerjee (Director), Uttam Saha (Secretary), Prince Rufus (Operations Manager), Santosh Sairoo Kashyap (Chief Coach), Bernard Oparanozie (Manager), Pradip Kumar Das (Physiotherapist) and Bijay Nayak (Masseur).

Lastupdate on : Fri, 7 Sep 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 7 Sep 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 8 Sep 2012 00:00:00 IST