Here are some of the controversies, which cast a shadow on Indian sport as the athletes prepared for the Asian Games.
The Indian men's team currently occupies the 18th spot among countries under the Asian Football Confederation, while the women's side is ranked 11th.
According to Jhingan, not being able to play in the ISL or international matches would have been more frustrating for him.
The national football team is currently ranked 18th in Asia and the sports ministry's rule states that in team sport, only those in top-eight will get the nod.
India lose to Iraq in penalty shootout, face Lebanon in bronze medal playoff.
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India lost all their three matches and without scoring any goal in the Asian Cup.
Kuruniyan ACL tear sparks row, Mohun Bagan 'refuse' to release players for Asian Games
National football team defensive lynchpin Jhingan left Kerala Blasters after spending six years with the Indian Super League club.
It also showed that a side placed 102nd in the FIFA World Rankings can thwart a team placed 77 places above them. And India did keep the mighty Aussies out for 50 minutes before a fatal error saw the Blue Tigers punished after all the good work.
Indian football team loses 0-2 to Australia in Asian Cup
With Chhetri and Stimac at helm, AIFF hoping for strong show in Asian Games
Phan Van Duc (10th), Nguyen Van Toan (49th) and Nguyen Van Quyet (70th) scored for Vietnam to no reply from the Indians whose defenders had a mediocre outing, especially in the second half.
Mohun Bagan sign Paul Pogba's elder brother Florentin
Chhetri has played for India 142 times and has scored 92 goals, the most by an Indian. He is also currently the third most prolific scorer in international football among active players, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Hosts India clinched the SAFF Championships title for the ninth time after beating Kuwait 5-4 in a tense penalty shootout.
Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri scored a hattrick as India handed Pakistan a 4-0 loss in their SAFF Championship match in Bengaluru.
At a time when #StayHomeStaySafe echoes the sentiment of not just 1.3 billion people but the entire world, India football player Sandesh Jhingan, a born optimist, feels "it's not long before smiles will be back." Currently, in Chandigarh with his family, Jhingan stated the day is not far when he foresees "football reuniting the entire world."
India look to ward off Nepal threat and move closer to semifinals
India will face Pakistan in their opening outing at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday
Sunil Chhetri was once again the man of the moment as he struck a brace to inspire India to a 2-0 win over Cambodia in the third round of qualifying for next year's Asian Cup.
India head coach Igor Stimac feels this may be the final season of talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri's career.
The national federation, which was able to stitch together the team just three days before its departure for China, still thanked the Indian Super League clubs and the FSDL "for coordinating with it for the release of players".
India face tough Iraq test sans Chhetri
'Every game is important, every win is important, especially clean sheets, so I am very happy. But I can tell you that I was not at all happy at half time. We played well in the first 10 minutes, and then we disappeared.'
The two teams will go up against each other again on Wednesday for the second leg
India captain Sunil Chhetri on Saturday said that he is "fossilized" and the country may not find his exact replacement.
Many Indian footballers have improved by leaps and bounds thanks to the exposure of playing in the Indian Super League in the last three seasons.
But they missed a flurry of chances with the striking line-up of Manvir Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan and Liston Colaco showing little coordination upfront, underlining the lack of firepower in the absence of Roy Krishna and David Williams.
The Blue Tigers raced to a 1-0 lead with the 21-year-old centreback Anwar scoring his maiden international goal four years after his career nearly ended on health grounds.
The Indian football team broke a 12-year-old jinx of not winning a match away from home as they beat lower ranked Cambodia 3-2 in an international friendly in Phnom Penh.
FC Goa's slim chances of making the semis all but went up in smoke as they remained on 18 points from 17 outings.
ATK Mohun Bagan moved to the top of the table and Kerala Blasters FC entered the top-four after the two sides played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in the Indian Super League.
Only Sandesh Jhingan, who led the side, Rahul Bheke and Subhasish Bose retained their places, but India still won the match through a 17th minute strike from midfielder Anirudh Thapa in the third-place match at the Thunder Castle stadium.
ATKMB looked the likelier of the two teams to take the lead in the opening exchanges, with the Mariners needing two goals at least to make a comeback.
New Zealand football coach Fritz Schmid, on Tuesday, dubbed India lying somewhere between 'a sleeping giant and a rising competitor'.
There is speculation about his retirement and the Indian captain happily responds with a smile that 'I don't know yet'.
Sunil Chhetri, who holds the national record of most international matches and most number of goals, made it clear that retirement plans are currently not on his mind.
All eyes were on the 131-year-old club Mohun Bagan as they were making their ISL debut following their 'marriage' with three-time defending champions ATK.
