It is not a complete exaggeration to say that the 2016 edition of the Indian Super League has not lived up to the standards of its predecessor. Overshadowed by merger talks throughout the league stage, the ISL clubs have seen its more illustrious cousins shut shop throughout the three years of the league’s existence.
This has ruled out any chances of a merger in the near future as the All India Football Federation, the governing body for the sport in India has not been able to sort out the mess surrounding the official league, the I-League.
With more clubs pulling out of the 2016 edition of the competition, it is left to the Indian Super League to provide local players with the necessary exposure and match practice that they require in order to remain competitive, especially considering that the national team is taking part in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers early next year.
But have the foreign coaches in the ISL started trusting Indians to a greater extent after three years of the competition? Let’s find out.
A paucity of Indian attackers
At the top of the game-time charts, an Indian player is the only one to have played all minutes for his club this season. Souvik Chakraborty, the 25-year old right-back from Delhi Dynamos who has also played as a left-back, has been on the pitch for all 1260 minutes of league action this season.
Following him is Kerala’s rock at the back, Sandesh Jhingan, who has missed just 12 minutes of action for the Blasters, having played all across the back. Atletico de Kolkata’s Debjit Majumder and Chennaiyin FC’s Mehrajuddin Wadoo are the other Indians in the top ten, having played every minute of the 13 matches they were involved in, missing one game each.
Among the Indian midfielders to have clocked up the most number of minutes on the pitch are two men at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to their footballing careers. The evergreen 35-year old Mehtab Hossain leads the way with 1150 minutes, having clocked up 13 appearances, closely followed by the impressive 24-year old Rowllin Borges, who was quite the defensive lynchpin for NorthEast United.
Milan Singh, highly trusted by Delhi coach Gianluca Zambrotta is a part of a select group of Indians along with Borges whose reputation has been enhanced by this season’s ISL, the 24-year old playing 60 fewer minutes than Mehtab across the same number of games.
Another player who has shone and is rightfully part of this group is Dynamos’ winger Kean Lewis who has made 12 appearances for his team and is the leading Indian attacker, in terms of game-time with 950 minutes to his name.
Locals not hitting the back of the net often
That is where the good news ends though. Of the 24-32 slots for attackers available to ISL teams (three-four attackers per team depending on formation played), only six have played for more than 50% of their team’s total time on the pitch (630 minutes).
It also has not helped that the goals have not flowed for the Indians at all in this edition. Barring Lewis, the other five Indian attackers – the two Mohammeds from Kerala, Rafi and Rafique, Holicharan Narzary, Arata Izumi and Robin Singh – to have played more than 630 minutes have only managed three goals amongst themselves in a combined 49 appearances.
There have been extenuating circumstances – Bengaluru FC’s run to the AFC Cup final has seen Sunil Chhetri and CK Vineeth play in the latter half of the league while injury cut short Jeje Lalpekhlua’s season with Chennaiyin FC. But this thin pool of attackers combined with the reluctance of foreign coaches to trust Indian attackers is a worrying statistic.
Although the total number of goals scored in the league stages has gone down this time – 134 to last season’s 171, the strikes notched up by domestic players has fallen to 31 from 47 at the same stage last season. Last season, five Indians were in the top ten goalscorers’ list. This time around, only Vineeth and Lewis find a place in the top ten, with five and four strikes respectively.
Chennaiyin’s wonder boy
A few Indian performances have brought smiles to viewers’ faces. Vineeth, after coming back from Bengaluru duty has been nothing short of inspirational, turning in electric performances for the Kerala Blasters in the six matches that he has played so far.
In an ISL season where Lalpekhlua and even Chhetri have struggled in front of goal, Lewis’ assured performances are a relief and possibly, music to Stephen Constantine’s ears. Honourable mentions must go to Borges and Milan Singh as well, but none of these wins the gong of Indian player of the season.
Marco Materazzi’s men may have been unable to defend their title, but of the 38 Indian footballers to have played more than half of their team’s total game-time, only one is a teenager, clocking up 1046 minutes, the 11th highest of all Indians, also scoring one goal to go with two assists, and with 29 blocks and 16 interceptions had made Chennaiyin’s left-back slot his own.
Jerry Lalrinzuala had not started the tournament well, conceding a penalty in his first ever ISL game against Atletico de Kolkata but grew in confidence as the tournament went on, netting his first goal through a stunning free-kick in Chennaiyin’s last group stage match against FC Goa. At 18, the ex-AIFF academy product looks to be one of the brightest talents coming through the system.