S Venkatesh will lead India in its first international under new coach Bob Houghton, at the White Caps Nation Cup football tournament in Vancouver, Canada, from July 17.

His appointment comes following Baichung Bhutia's request to be relieved of India duty.

Houghton was named coach in May following the sacking of Syed Nayeemuddin.

Venkatesh will skipper a 20-member team in the tournament that includes matches against local outfit Vancouver City Club, Cardiff City Club from England and a Chinese Under-20 side.

The team: Sandeep Nandy and Subhasis Chaudhary (goalkeepers), Mahesh Gawli, Narender Singh, N S Manju, Surkumar Singh, S Venkatesh (captain), Renedy Singh, Steven Dias, Mehrajuddin Waddoo, Sushil Kumar Singh, Sunil Chetri, Anupam Sarkar, Manjit Singh, Samir Naik, Bibiano Fernandes, Freddy Mascarenhas, Micky Fernades, N P Pradeep, Habibur R. Mondal.

Officials:

Bob Houghton - chief coach
Mauricio Affonso - assistant coach
Marcus Pacheco � goalkeeping coach
Mannav Bhattacharya - team doctor
Pradeep Dutta - Physical trainer
P K Choudhury - manager.