Australian forward Ryan Williams joins Indian football team camp
New Delhi (PTI): Forward Ryan Willaims, who has relinquished his Australian passport to become an Indian citizen, has joined the Khalid Jamil-coached national team camp in Bengaluru, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said on Sunday.
Born in Perth, the 32-year-old entered the camp along with defender Jay Gupta.
"Forward Ryan Williams, and defender Jay Gupta have joined the senior men's national team camp in Bengaluru," the AIFF posted on X.
In what could mark a new beginning for Indian football, the game's national federation AIFF earlier this week roped in two overseas-based players -- Williams and Abneet Bharti -- for the national camp ahead of the AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh in Dhaka on November 18.
The move reflects a bold shift in approach by the beleaguered federation, opening the door for Indian-origin players and those willing to give up foreign citizenship to represent the country.
The camp began in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Williams' Indian citizenship handover ceremony was conducted by legendary Sunil Chhetri at the training facility of Bengaluru FC, the club he plays for in the Indian Super League.
"Honoured to make official what's long felt true. Grateful for the love, the opportunity, and the sense of belonging this country has given me. As you can see, the last round of interviews was the hardest. India, I'm one of your own!" Williams had earlier said in an Instagram post.
Williams' mother was born in Mumbai while his father was born in Kent, England.
This is only the second instance of an Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) becoming eligible to play for the Indian football team.
He has played for Australia U-20 and U-23 teams, and also represented the senior team as a second-half substitute during a friendly in 2019, against South Korea.
He has also represented English clubs Fulham and Portsmouth, before joining ISL side Bengaluru FC in 2023.
Before Williams, Japan-born Izumi Arata took Indian citizenship to represent India in 2012, and featured in nine matches for the Blue Tigers in 2013 and 2014.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
