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ISL: Seniors Nandy, Climax, Dias netted by franchises
Experienced footballers Sandip Nandy, Climax Lawrence, N P Pradeep and Steven Dias were among the home-grown stars picked on Day 2 of the domestic players’ draft for the Indian Super League, in Mumbai.
A total of 84 players were on offer in the two-day draft process which concluded on Wednesday.
Former India goalkeeper Nandy was among the first from the second lot of 42 players to be chosen on Day 2, by Kerala Blasters, co-owned by cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and coached by successful ex-East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan.
Midfielders Lawrence, Dias and Pradeep had to wait till the last few rounds before being picked by Athletico de Kolkata, Delhi Dynamos and Bengaluru respectively.
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Among the others picked were Sanju Pradhan and Mehrajuddin Wadoo, by the Kolkata and Pune franchises respectively.
Several talented youngsters were also picked by the six franchises over the last two days while two other franchises – Goa and North East FC – announced their pickings – done prior to the draft - after each round.
The first lot of 42 players was picked on Tuesday, Day 1 of the draft.
The player pool was a mix of seasoned, experienced senior national players and promising young talents from across the country.
In terms of playing positions, the ISL draft pool had 27 attackers (forwards and wingers), 21 midfielders, 26 defenders and 10 goalkeepers.
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ISL: Seniors Nandy, Climax, Dias netted by franchises
It also included 30 players on loan from four I-League clubs, as well as free agents who have been centrally contracted.
The ISL has also made provision for seven players in the Central Reserve Pool to serve as future replacements in case of injuries or other emergencies.
Speaking to reporters, Dias said he was very excited to be playing for Delhi.
"I have always enjoyed playing in Delhi during the Nehru Cup and Durand Cup," he said.
He also said that the ISL will help Indian footballers "get to know where we belong and to learn from international footballers".
Lawrence, on free transfer from Goa, will be back playing in Kolkata where he had played for I-League clubs before.
He was of the view that the ISL needs experienced players too.
"There will be international players too. I am looking forward to the kick off," he added.
Current international Gouramangi Singh, picked on Tuesday by Sun Group-owned Bengaluru franchise, said he was very happy that he would be playing in the IPL-style event.
"A lot of people and a lot of my friends are waiting for ISL to kick off. I am not saying ISL is going to change everything in Indian football. But it's a big step and we are on the right track," he said.
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ISL: Seniors Nandy, Climax, Dias netted by franchises
Mehtab Hossain, picked by Kerala Blasters on Tuesday and a big fan of Tendulkar, said he would try and talk to his idol about injury comebacks.
"I am proud to be in Sachin's team. He's my idol. I will try and learn about injury comebacks if I get a chance to talk to him," he said.
Tendulkar suffered a number of injuries and also underwent a few surgeries during his glittering 24-year international career that ended last November.
Both players hailed the hiring of Morgan as the team coach, saying the Australian knew how exactly they played and was very good at man management.
Day 2 draft picks:
Delhi Dynamos: Adil Khan, Manish Bhargav, Govin Singh, Jagroop Singh, Steven Dias, Anwar Ali, Manandeep Singh.
Athletico de Kolkata: Sanju Pradhan, Kinshu Debnath, Lester Fernandes, Subashish Roy Chaudhary, Baljit Sahni, Climax Lawrence, N Mohanraj.
Bengaluru: Abhishek Das, Jayesh Rane, Abhijit Mondal, Anthony Barbosa, Dane Pereira, N P Pradeep, Jason Vales.
Kerala Blasters: Abhinav Bag, Sandip Nandy, C S Sabeeth, Luis Baretto, Milagres Gonsalves, Ramandeep Singh, Renedy Singh.
Mumbai: Rohit Mirza, Ishan Debnath, Nadong Bhutia, Asif Kottayil, Peter Costa, Lalrin Fela, Sushil Kumar Singh.
Pune: Deepak Devrani, Tapan Meetai, Arindam Bhattacharya, Anupam Sarkar, Pratik Shinde, Lalit Thapa, Mehrajuddin Wadoo.
Goa: Mandar Rao Desai, Romeo Fernandes, Peter Carvalho, Pranoy Halder, Probir Das, Rowilson Rodrigues.
North East United: Pritam Kumar Singh, Milan Singh, Robin Gurung, Redeem Tlang, Semilen Doungel, David Ngaihte.
Day 1 draft picks:
Pune City: Lenny Rodrigues, Ravanan Dharmaraj, Ashutosh Mehta, Joaquim Abranches, Pritam Kotal, Manish Maithani, Israil Gurung.
Kerala: Mehtab Hossain, Sandesh Jhingan, Ishfaq Ahmed, Gurwinder Singh, Nirmal Chettri, Sushant Mathew, Godwin Franco.
Delhi: Naoba Singh, Robert Lalthamuana, Francis Fernandes, Shouvik Ghosh, Shouvik Chakraborty, Munmun Timothy Lugun, Malswamtulunga.
Atletico de Kolkata: Rakesh Masih, Denzil Franco, Arnab Mondal, Cavin Lobo, Mohammed Rafi, Biswajit Saha, Mohammed Rafique.
Mumbai City FC: Raju Gaikwad, Syed Rahim Nabi, SingamSubash Singh, Lalrindika Ralte, Subrata Paul, Ram Malik, Deepak Mondal.
Bengaluru: Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Shilton Paul, Dhanachandra Singh, Harmanjot Khabra, Denson Devadas, Khelemba Meetei.
Goa: Clifford Miranda, Gabriel Fernandes, Debabrata Roy, Laxmikant Kattimani, Shaikh Jewel Raja, Alwyn George, Narayan Das.
North East FC: Kunzang Bhutia, Jibon Singh, Durga Boro, Aibor Khongjee, Zodingliana Ralte, TP Rehnesh, Boithang Haokip.
Reserves: Alvito D'Cunha, Soumik Dey, Abhra Mondal, Y C Meetei, Simranjeet Singh, Rajinder Kumar and Priyant Singh.