Defender Anas Edathodika and midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh command a whopping Rs 1.1 crore each as Indian Super League player draft creates a host of millionaires
India footballers (left to right) Pritam Kotal, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Jackychan Singh, Robin Singh, Jayesh Shah, Arindam Bhattacharya, Albino Gomes and Subrata Paul with Football Sports Development Ltd's Chairperson Nita Ambani (centre), at the ISL player draft at a city hotel yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
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It was raining rupees at the Indian Super League (ISL) player draft in Mumbai yesterday as prolific defender Anas Edathodika and midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh emerged as the costliest buys going for a whopping Rs 1.1 crore. While Edathodika, who played his previous two seasons with Delhi Dynamos, was picked by ISL new entrants Jamshedpur FC, Lyngdoh, who earlier plied his trade with I-League champions and the ISL's other latest member Bengaluru FC, will now don the red and white stripes for two-time champions Atletico de Kolkata.
Anas Edathodika. Pic/ISL
New ISL guidelines
ISL guidelines state that this season teams will have to feature six Indian players, instead of the earlier five, and clubs made their money count.
It was a pleasant homecoming of sorts for out-of-favour India goalkeeper Subrata Paul to Jamshedpur FC. Paul, 30, who honed his skills at the Tata Football Academy, was roped in by the Tata Steel-owned club for Rs 87 lakh and was among the high-profile picks in the day's first half.
Defender Pritam Kotal, who spent most of his career in Kolkata, was picked by Delhi Dynamos for R75 lakh. Last season's I-League champions Aizawl FC's winning duo of Jayesh Rane and Ashutosh Mehta were grabbed by ATK for R49 lakh and Rs 45 lakh respectively. Another significant buys was defender Rino Anto (Kerala Blasters FC for Rs 63 lakh). Striker Balwant Singh (Rs 65 lakh) and goalie Arindam Bhattacharya (Rs 64 lakh) will join MCFC, while Bengaluru FC bagged Lenny Rodrigues for Rs 60 lakh. Pronay Halder, who had signed for MCFC last season, went to FC Goa for Rs 58 lakh. Robin Singh was the talking point during the day. The wily striker, who was unsold till Round 8, was finally picked by ATK for Rs 65 lakh.
134 players picked
The ISL player draft saw 134 players signed and 71 unsold. Among the notable exclusions were former India international Gourmangi Singh, experienced defender Ravanan Dharamraj and former national player Syed Rahim Nabi. However, clubs can still sign the remaining Indian players, but have to ensure they don't exceed the team's budget of Rs 18 crore, which includes the foreigners as well.
ISL this season begins from November 17 and a total of 95 matches will be played over a period of five months. The league has issued September 12 as the cut off date for teams to finalise their rooster.
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