Internet Desk: The ISL 2017 draft came out to be an interesting show today at Mumbai as there was some expected, unexpected as well as some weird choices by the franchises in the draft. Defending champions ATK too made some interesting picks with Ashley Westwood and Teddy Sheringham were in the thick of things.
Despite the fact that they have chosen players like Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Jayesh Rane and Asutosh Mehta, they air pool of players raised question marks. Lyngdoh was not a regular for BFC in the last season because of his performance, but ended up being the highest paid Indian player for Kolkata. They selected Augustine Fernandez who hasn’t played a competitive game since getting injured in the second game of the last ISL. Keegan Perrera too seemed out of sorts in the last season. Kunzung Bhutia, the goalkeeper who struggled to get even a Calcutta Football League club in the last season, ended up being selected for ATK.
Though all eyes were on one of the new teams of ISL 2017, Jamshedpur FC, who had the wonderful opportunity to sign the first player in the draft. They went in for defender Anas Edathodika, who was one of the most expensive players in the draft, with a price tag of Rs 1.1 crores. They also picked as many as six Bengali players from the draft.
The excitement level went up as the teams started engaging in ‘instant trade’. Some were successful, while some failed. Kerala Blasters were one of the teams to use the instant trade option for Lyngdoh with ATK, but the latter stay put and bagged the Shillong man.
Brandon Fernandes for Rs 27.5 lakhs to FC Goa and Isaac Vanmalsawma to Pune City for 15 lakhs are good buys. The signing of former Mohun Bagan defender Subhasish Bose by Bengaluru FC also falls in the same bracket.
Here is a look at all the teams and their acquisitions:
Jamshedpur FC: Shouvik Chakrabarti, Ashim Biswas, Siddharth Singh, Sanjiban Ghosh, Anas Edathodika, Subrata Paul, Souvik Ghosh, Sairuat Kima, Mehtab Hossain, Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Farukh Choudhary, Sumeet Passi, Yumnam Raju, Robin Gurung, Bikash Jairu
ATK: Augustin Fernandes, Keegan Pereira, Shankar Sampingraj, Anwar Ali, Robin Singh, Rupert Nongrum, Ashutosh Mehta, Jayesh Rane, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Hitesh Sharma, Ronald Singh, Kunzang Bhutia, Bipin Singh.
FC Goa: Anthony DSouza, Mohammed Yasir, Mohamed Ali, Pronay Halder, Chinglensana Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Jovel Martins, Narayan Das, Amey Ranawade, Bruno Colaco, Seriton Fernandes, Pratesh Shirodkar, Naveen Kumar.
Delhi Dynamos: David Ngaihte, Sena Ralte, Sukhadev Patil, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Sajid Dhot, Munmun Timothy Lugun, Arnab Das Sharma, Simranjit Singh, Albino Gomes, Pritam Kotal, Rowilson Rodrigues, Seityasen Singh, Pratik Chaudhari, Romeo Fernandes, Vinit Rai
Pune City FC: Nim Dorjee Tamang, Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, Isaac Vanmalsawma, Adil Khan, Wayne Vaz, Rohit Kumar, Ajay Singh, Gurtej Singh, Kamaljit Singh, Pawan Kumar, Baljit Sahni, Kean Lewis, Chhuantea, Jewel Raja, Harpreet Singh.
Bengaluru FC: Abhra Mandal, Harmanjot Khabra, Subhashish Bose, Alwyn George, Lenny Rodrigues, Thongkhosiem Haokip, Lalthuammawia Ralte, Rahul Bheke, Calvin Abhishek, Joyner Lourenco, Zotea Ralte, Collin Abranches, Boithang Haokip.
Chennaiyin FC: Thoi Singh, Fulganco Cardozo, Germanpreet Singh, Pawan Kumar, Keenan Almeida, Mohammed Rafi, Dhanapal Ganesh, Shahin Lal Meloli, Sanjay Balmuchu, Bikramjit Singh, Dhanachandra Singh, Francisco Fernandes.
Kerala Blasters: Jackichand Singh, Rino Anto, Lalruatthara, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Milan Singh, Siam Hanghal, Lalthakima, Pritam Kumar Singh, Samuel Shadap, Arata Izumi, Loken Meitei, Karan Sawhney, Ajith Sivan.
Mumbai City FC: Zakeer Mundampara, Balwant Singh, Biswajit Saha, Pranjal Bhumij, Sanju Pradhan, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Kunal Sawant, Lalchhawnkima, Arindam Bhattacharya, Raju Gaikwad, Abinash Ruidas, Sahil Tavora, Aiborlang Khongjee.
NorthEast United: Nirmal Chettri, Gursimrat Gill, Abdul Hakku, Lalrempuia Fanai, Gurpreet Singh, Lalrindika Ralte, Robert Lalthlamuana, Holicharan Narzary, Reagan Singh, Ravi Kumar, Sushil Meitei,Sieminlen Doungel, Malemnganba Meitei.