In the absence of Baichung Bhutia and Debjit Ghosh, JCT midfielder Jo Paul Ancheri will lead India in the Asia Cup first-leg qualifier against North Korea, to be played at Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 24.

Bhutia was ruled out of selection as he is still to recover from the orthoscopic surgery he underwent on his right knee recently, while Ghosh is hasn't regained full fitness after being down with a bout of viral fever.

Ancheri, who had led India in the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur in June 2001, has been rewarded for his splendid showing in the last few rounds of the National Football League which brought about the resurgence of JCT Mills.

The second-leg match will be played in Goa on March 30.

All India Football Federation secretary Alberto Colaco said the 18-member team will leave for Pyongyang on March 20.

The team:

Goalkeepers: Naseem Aktar (Mahindra United), Sandip Nandy (East Bengal)

Defenders: Dipak Mondal (East Bengal), Mahesh Gawali (Churchill Brothers), M Suresh (East Bengal), Arun Malhotra (East Bengal).

Midfielders: Jules Alberto (Vasco), Jo Paul Ancheri (JCT), Subahsh Chakroborty (East Bengal), Climax Lawrence (Salgaocar), Renedy Singh (Mohun Bagan), Sameer Naik (Dempo), Roque Barretto (Churchill), Tomba Singh (Salgaocar).

Forwards: I M Vijayan (JCT), Alex Ambrose (Salgaocar), Alvito D'Cunha (East Bengal), Abhishek Yadav (Mahindra).

Chief coach: Stephen Constantine