Why the Indian Super League is one of India's greatest sporting successes
When the Indian Super League kicked off on 12th October, there were a legion of theories surrounding the tournament. After all, this was as seen by many, the last and the most compelling hope to catapult the status of football in a 'cricket-crazy' country like India. Even though there were a few apprehensions regarding the success of the format in the minds of people initially, the pulsating response that the format has received has brushed off all those thoughts.The biggest fear in the mind of experts was whether the ISL will be able to match up with the factor which was instrumental in destroying the I-League, sustainability. However, the proceedings which ensued at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on that eventful Sunday evening blew all doubts out of the water and ensured that the ISL was one of India's greatest sporting successes.A serried stadium, plethora of Bollywood superstars upping the glitz and glamour quotient, presence of legends like Ljungberg, Del Piero and David Trezeguet, coupled with that innate excitement to watch some top drawer football on Indian soil for the very first time made the opening day fixture between Atletico de Kolkata and Mumbai City FC a resounding success.From that moment on, there was no looking back and the ISL gradually escalated to insurmountable heights and eventually became the topic of discussion all over the country. However, the most momentous achievement of the league was the thunderous reception it achieved from the Indian audiences. According to statistics, the Indian Super League is the 4th most popular football league in the world in terms of attendance, ranking ahead of the Italian Seria A.A staggering 1 million football purists thronged to the stadiums to watch their teams play; a landmark achievement which signalled the dawn of a footballing nation, which in earnest, was the ultimate aim of the organizers of this stellar tournament.The league kicked off with 8 teams representing each and every part of the country and were owned by Bollywood superstars as well as businessmen. After two months and 60 pulsating and highly engaging fixtures, the curtains are set to fall on the 20th of December with the culmination of the league. The two finalists this season are Kerala Blasters and Atletico de Kolkata, who have been on-song since the very first day of this league and will deservedly fight for top honours in what promises to be a thumping finale. Below, I have enlisted three primary reasons as to why the ISL is one of India's greatest sporting successes.
#1 Emanation of Indian talent
Apart from the obvious reason of propelling the status of the game in the country, another extremely pivotal aspect of the ISL was to discover Indian talent with unimpeachable caliber. And, quite visibly, they got what they wanted. The brilliance exuded on the pitch by local lads has helped them transcend into local heroes and gain international recognition.
The boom of extremely talented Indian players was a sight to relish with Romeo Fernandes, TP Rehenesh, Subrata Paul, Mandar Rao, Subhash Singh, Lalrindika Ralte and Arnab Mondal leading the bandwagon. Such have been the performances of these players that their international counterparts have been compelled to shower praise on them. Here are a few instances.
"Don’t forget about our 21-year-old goalkeeper who nobody in the world knew about before the ISL.,” said NorthEast United FC manager Rikki Herbert on his keeper, TP Rehenesh who was the former New Zealand coach’s first choice ahead of a much more experienced Alexandros Tzorvas.
“They are both young. With Romeo and Mandar, Goa and Dempo have a bright future,” adds Robert Pires on his team-mates.
Indian captain Sunil Chhetri has been very impressed by the progress of the local lads and feels they have done enough to stake a claim for a spot in the national side.
"The ISL has been received very well by the football fans. The tournament has been shown in many channels, including in High Definition and you can access to it in other formats. It has been marketed well. I hope the tournament sustains its popularity in future editions also and keep on growing," said the 30-year-old striker.
"Some of the young players have done so well in the ISL and I am impressed with their performance. I think whoever comes as India coach will have a look at these players (for selection)," Chhetri said.