As the Indian Super League opens its 10th season on Thursday, with the Southern derby between Kerala Blasters and Bengaluru FC in Kochi, some 9000km away an under-prepared Indian team will be desperately working out strategies for its crucial Asian Games league match against Bangladesh the same evening at Xiaoshan, China.
With many of the ISL clubs reluctant to send their top players for the Asiad as the event fell outside the FIFA international window, confusion prevailed over the last few weeks with changes happening frequently. So much so, the National coach Igor Stimac was not sure who would finally be in his team even some five days before the squad’s departure to China.
In the end, with some late additions including defender Sandesh Jhingan, the team made a last-minute dash to China. Exhausted after a long travel and without a single training session, the team suffered a 5-1 thrashing against the host in its Asiad opener in Hangzhou on Tuesday.
Under this situation, the ISL will have a bit of an uneasy start.
More teams, longer format
Started in 2014 with just eight teams playing over two-and-half months, the ISL has come a long way. Last year, the league lasted four-and-half months and this season with Punjab FC becoming the first-ever team to gain promotion to the ISL as the I-League champion, the league will now have 12 teams and is expected to be longer. India’s FIFA World ranking has also improved considerably since the start of the ISL, from 171 at one point in 2014 to its current high of 99.
Every league will have its own hiccups and problems but there needs to be better communication and co-ordination between AIFF and the ISL organiser FDSL for the sport to thrive.
Big churn
There has been a big churn in the ISL this season. Defending champion Mohun Bagan Super Giant has grabbed the Kerala Blasters’ talented Sahal Abdul Samad while FC Goa has taken top defender Sandesh Jhingan from Bengaluru FC among the prominent changes.
“Mohun Bagan, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa and may be Odisha look good so I think the competition will be a little bit stronger than last year,” said Belgian Frank Dauwen, the Blasters’ assistant coach.
So get ready for some tight battles.
