ISL 2018-19: 5 Indian players that clubs should have retained
The Indian Super League's 5th edition is slated to begin in just four days and this season like its predecessor will have Indian players on the forefront.
Last season teams which had a stable Indian line up or had quality Indian players went onto play the finals and won the coveted trophy. With the number of foreign players allowed in the starting eleven reduced to five, ISL franchises have started investing a lot more into the Indian players.
Indian national team players like Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Udanta Singh had considerable contributions to their teams' success even more than some of the foreigners in the side.
The Indian players scored a staggering 66 goals last season which was a steep increase compared to previous seasons. Teams which performed well in the previous editions of the league have had a bunch of Indian players who form the core of the team.
In this article, we will have a look five Indian players who should have been retained by their respective franchises:
*please note the teams mentioned within the bracket is the player's old team or the team that should have retained them.
#5 Narayan Das (FC Goa), New Team: Delhi Dynamos
The Indian National team defender who until recently was the first choice left back for Stephen Constantine had been FC Goa's go-to guy for the left-back slot in the ISL.
He is known to be a coach's player as every coach that he has played under, have praised him a lot and is known to be an obedient student. From Zico to Trevor Morgan to Stephen Constantine everyone has lauded the young Bengal born left-back.
Narayan is also one of the only four defenders to have more than 50 ISL appearances, and that speaks volumes of his contributions towards his team.
The Indian defender played 19 games last season for FC Goa and had one assist to his name. He made 34 tackles, 28 interceptions, 37 clearances and 23 blocks throughout the season. Narayan also had more than a thousand touches of the ball which is one of the highest for any defender in the league.