Rs 7.22 crore were splurged by ISL Clubs to buy 10 players in the first ever Player Auction held in Mumbai on Friday. India captain Sunil Chhetri, the biggest draw of the auction, bagged the highest offer of Rs. 1.20 crore from Mumbai City FC.
Eugeneson Lyngdoh, the 28 year old midfielder came a close second by breaking through the 1 crore barrier, bought by FC Pune City for Rs 1.05 crore.
That followed a 112-player Draft where 40 players were picked. Here's how all the drama unfolded.
PLAYER AUCTION
Charlie Ross was at his best as the auctioneer that witnessed Indian football captain Sunil Chhetri bagging the highest bid, a whopping Rs. 1.20 Crore from Team Mumbai City FC. Eugeneson Lyngdoh, the 28 year old midfielder came a close second by breaking through the 1 crore barrier, winning a bid price of Rs 1.05 crore from FC Pune City following a round of bids from Mumbai City FC, Atletico de Kolkata and NorthEast United FC.
Rino Anto, India's best right-back turned out to be the dark horse of the ISL bagging a surprise bid price of Rs 90 lakh from a base price of Rs. 17.50 lakh when he was picked up by Atletico de Kolkata.
Chennaiyin FC grabbed a sweet deal with Karanjit Singh, the only available goalkeeper at the auction, for his base price of Rs. 60 lakhs. Chennaiyin FC also bid successfully for Thoi Singh, the 24 year old talented midfielder, for Rs 86 lakh.
PLAYER DRAFT
At the Player Draft that followed, Mumbai City FC were in prolific form snapping up seven players from the pool of 112 available for selection. FC Goa, however, decided to exercise their choice only on two occasions picking two forwards to augment their strike force.
North East United FC, Delhi Dynamos FC and Pune City FC had six picks each, Chennaiyin FC were next with five and champions Atletico de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters FC settled for four each. In all, 40 players were signed, sealed and delivered to their new owners.
Although midfielders were most in demand with 18 getting recruited by the eight franchises, defenders were also not ignored with 11 being picked. However, it was the eight goalkeepers who were selected and sparked interest, with Mumbai City and ATK picking two each. Each team can recruit a maximum of 13 domestic players (not including those picked at the auction) and must have at least two development players in their squad.
Among the prominent movers were Cavin Lobo to Kerala Blasters and Sushanth Mathew to Pune City. Atletico de Kolkata added two defenders, the upcoming Augustine Fernandes and Lalchawnkima, in addition to two goalkeepers - Amrinder Singh and Kunzang Bhutia, both development players.
North East United's picks were predictably all from the region while Kerala also had a good outing by roping in defensive midfielders Shankar Sampingraj and Peter Carvalho and international forward C K Vineeth. All teams, however, had a fair outing as they sought to add balance to their Indian contingent, which had already been picked for the most part before the draft.
There was an air of tension throughout the auction, but in the end all the teams seemed satisfied with their new players.
The much anticipated second season of the Indian Super League (ISL) will kick off on October 3 with its opening match to be played between Chennaiyin FC and Athletico de Kolkata, winners of the first season of the ISL, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai.
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