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Journalism of Courage
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
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
