Hero ISL a project for development of Indian Football : Jeff Slack

Forty-two Players were up for grabs at the start of day two with team Goa and North East United FC picking from their pre-selected pool of Players.

Former Indian national team captain Climax Lawrence was picked up by Atletico de Kolkata while his former National Team midfield duo of Steven Dias and NP Pradeep were picked up by Delhi Dynamos FC and Team Bengaluru respectively.

The tension and the intensity increased as the draft proceedings advanced into the final rounds with the club representatives engaging in intense calculations in finalizing their squad.

Over Fifteen Players who have represented the Indian National Team in the last three years and 12 players from various Indian age-group national sides were drafted by the clubs on day 2 of the Hero Indian Super League.

This was the first time in the history of Indian Football that such a novel Player Draft system was executed and with promises of many more to come in the near future, all for the popularization, betterment and development of Indian Football.

At the successful conclusion of the two-day gathering, Senior Vice-President, IMG Global Football Development, Jefferson Slack said that it was very “fulfilling to see this happen.”

“It’s so fulfilling to see the realization of the vision and hard work. This is also a step to inspire young Indians not only to follow but also to play the sport as this is a project for the development of Indian Football,” he said.

Former Indian National Captain Bhaichung Bhutia insisted it has been a “learning process” for him.

“Summarising the Teams as they have been picked, it’s difficult for me to pick up a favourite,” he stated.

“It’s impressive to note that each of the Clubs have gone for different strategies while player selection. The entire process has been a great learning one for me. I look forward to see new talent emerging and maturing through Indian Super League while playing with other iconic players,” he added.

Following are the 8 Clubs Indian Player line-up with today’s selection and in (italics) Day 1 picks:

Delhi Dynamos FC: Adil Khan, Manish Bhargav, Govin Singh, Jagroop Singh, Steven Dias, Anwar Ali, Manandeep Singh.

Day 1 (Francis Fernandes, Robert Lalthamuana, Naoba Singh, Shylo Malswamtluanga, Shouvik Ghosh, Shouvik Chakraborty, Munmun Lugun.)

Atletico de Kolkata: Sanju Pradhan, Kinshuk Debnath, Lester Fernandes, Subhasish Roychowdhury, Baljit Sahni, Climax Lawrence, Mohanraj Nallappan.

Day 1 (Cavin Lobo, Arnab Mondal, Denzil Franco, Rakesh Masih, Mohammed Rafique, Mohammed Rafi, Biswajit Saha).

Team Bengaluru: Abhishek Das, Jayesh Rane, Abhijit Mondal, Anthony Barbosa, Dane Pereira, NP Pradeep, Jaison Vales.

Day 1 (Harmanjot Khabra, Dhanachandra Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Gouramangi Singh, Shilton Paul, Denson Devadas, Khelemba Meitei).

Kerala Blasters FC: Avinabo Bag, Sandip Nandy, CS Sabeeth, Luis Barreto, Milagres Gonsalves, Ramandeep Singh, Renedy Singh.

Day 1 (Mehtab Hussain, Sandesh Jhingan, Ishfaq Ahmed, Gurwinder Singh, Nirmal Chettri, Sushant Matthew, Godwin Franco).

Team Mumbai: Rohit Mirza, Ishan Debnath, Nadong Bhutia, Asif Kottiyal, Peter Costa, Lalrinfela, Sushil Kumar Singh.

Day 1 (Subrata Paul, Lalrindika Ralte, Syed Rahim Nabi, Raju Gaikwad, Subash Singh, Ram Malik, Deepak Mondal).

Team Pune: Deepak Devrani, Tapan Maity, Arindam Bhattacharya, Anupam Sarkar, Pratik Shinde, Lalit Thapa, Mehrajuddin Wadoo.

Day 1 (Lenny Rodrigues, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Ashutosh Mehta, Joaquim Abranches, Pritam Kotal, Manish Maithani, Israil Gurung).

Team Goa: Mandar Rao Desai, Romeo Fernandes, Peter Carvalho, Holicharan Narzary, Pronay Halder, Prabir Das, Rowlison Rodrigues.

Day 1 (Laxmikant Kattimani, Debabrata Roy, Gabriel Fernandes, Clifford Miranda, Jewel Raja Shaikh, Alwyn George, Narayan Das).

North East United FC: Pritam Kumar Singh, Milan Singh, Robin Gurung, Alen Deory, Redeem Tlang, Seminlen Doungel, David Ngaihte.

Day 1 (Kunzang Bhutia, Jibon Singh, Durga Boro, Aibor Khongjee, Zodingliana Ralte, TP Rehnesh, Boithang Haokip).