ISL Draft: Of crorepatis and value buys

The ISL’s third domestic player draft will see 10 franchises, including newcomers Bangalore FC and Jamshedpur FC, selecting players to fill their rosters. The Indian Express classifies the options the teams have.

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Sunil Chhetri was retained by Bengaluru FC for Rs 1.5 crore

Eight of the nine teams opted to retain a few players from their previous squad, and each will need a minimum of 15 and maximum of 18 Indian players, along with two U-21 players, in their teams at the end of Sunday’s program. A pool of 205 players has been made available for the teams to pick from, and given that 22 players have already been retained by the various franchises, a maximum of 158 players can get selected at the Draft, which does not impose a salary cap.

Crorepatis

Two years ago, in the ISL’s first ever auction, the cash-rich league had crowned India’s first ever crorepati players. On that occasion, India captain Sunil Chhetri and Eugeneson Lyngdoh were the only two players snapped up for prices beyond the seven-digit mark. Ahead of Sunday’s draw, a total of seven Indian players were deemed worthy of garnering a base price that touched a crore. Yet of the seven, five have already been retained.

Retained players

Sunil Chhetri – Rs 1.5 crore (Bengaluru FC)

Jeje Lalpekhlua – Rs 1.4 crore (Chennayin FC)

Sandesh Jhingan – Rs 1.2 crore (Kerala Blasters)

Amrinder Singh – Rs 1.2 crore (Mumbai city FC)

CK Vineeth – Rs 1 crore (Kerala Blasters)

Players in draft with base price over Rs 1 crore

Eugeneson Lyngdoh – Rs 1.1 crore

Anas Edathodika – Rs 1.1 crore

Smart Buys (60 lakhs or below)

While there is a list of players who have commanded high base prices, and will naturally be eyed keenly by the 10 franchises, the player pool throws up names with asking prices at Rs 60 lakhs or below which are bound to be strong additions.

Topping the list of value-for-money buys are:

Lenny Rodrigues – Rs 60 lakh

Pronay Halder – Rs 58 lakh

Halicharan Narzary – Rs 45 lakh

Jackichand Singh – Rs 55 lakh

Seityasen Singh – Rs 50 lakh

Bikash Jairu – Rs 55 lakh

Narayan Das – Rs 58 lakh

Ashutosh Mehta – Rs 45 lakh

Jayesh Rane – Rs 49 lakh

Bargain Buys (Rs 10 lakhs or below)

Along with the high profile and heavily priced players in the draft, is a mixture of youthful and experienced contenders present with a meagre base price of below Rs 10 lakhs. Former India international Syed Nabi is among them. The list also includes the likes of 20-year-old Uttam Rai.

Syed Rahim Nabi – Rs 10 lakh

Uttam Rai – Rs 8 lakh

Lalrempuia Fanai – Rs 8 lakh

Dashyanng Kachru – Rs 5 lakh

Israil Gurung – Rs 8 lakh