Mumbai: The Indian Super League (ISL)'s auction and draft for the domestic footballers, on Friday, here, was a combination of drama, jubilation and disappointments.
While two national team footballers, skipper Sunil Chetri (Rs 1.20 crore, Mumbai City FC) and Eugeneson Lyngdoh (Rs 1.05 cr, FC Pune City ), became the first Indian players to command salaries of more than Rs. 1 crore each in the ISL, several big names of Indian football were left stranded as there were no takers for them among the cash-rich franchises.
At the end of an engrossing day, when the franchises fought tooth and nail to grab Lyngdoh, Thoi Singh and Rino Anto, other big names of the I-League, like Shilton Paul, Lalkamal Bhowmick and Alwyn George were left stranded.
A total of Rs 7.22 cr was spent on the 10 players at the auction, with FC Goa and Kerala Blasters the only teams not to but any footballer. From the team's point of view, defending champions Atletico de Kolkata looked a happy lot, as things went as per their plans. After successfully grabbing two players from the auction - Rino Anto (Rs 90 lakh) and Izumi Arata (Rs 68 lakh), ATK picked up four players of their choice from the draft, by the end of the fourth round in the draft call.
Given the first choice to go for their favourite player in the draft, ATK first called for goalkeeper Amrinder Singh and then closed the deals with defenders Augustine Fernandes and Lalchhawnkima and young goalkeeper Kunzang Bhutia.
In the auction, though Chetri emerged the top earner, the drama that was enacted between the franchises to pocket Lyngdoh was simply absorbing. Starting with a modest base price of Rs 27.5 lakh, Lyngdoh became the hottest player when six teams, barring Delhi Dynamos and FC Goa, got into a frantic bid to get the best midfielder of the I-League this season.
It was an intense battle as ATK, too, raised their bid to Rs 1 cr, while Mumbai City FC's co-owner Ranbir Kapoor and FC Pune City's Hrithik Roshan, tried to upstage each other for a long time before the latter clinched the deal. All along, Lyngdoh could be seen sitting with a nervous smile on his face.
"I had never been so happy spending money," said Hrithik later. "Orange (the team colour) has become bit more orange. It was worth a buy. Lyngdoh is certainly a very fine player. He is welcome to our Pune family," he added.
No less was the excitement when ATK went all out to outbid others for Bengauluru FC's wing back, Rino Anto. Having started from Rs 17.50 lakh, the Calcutta outfit kept a low profile when Mumbai City and FC Goa went on increasing the rate with back-to-back calls. With the veteran auctioneer Charlie Ross making things even more thrilling with his timely comments, ATK suddenly upped the ante at the last stage of the deal.
Starting from Rs 86 lakh, ATK had the last laugh when their final call for Rs 90 lakh left all other franchises silent.
"It was the part of our strategy. We wanted to see how it would go initially. Anto remained a key factor in our players' policy. We are extremely happy to get him," said an Atletico official later.
On the contrary, the auction for Chetri was somewhat a drab affair, despite him being the highest paid Indian footballer. The reluctance of the franchises to spend money on Indian strikers was evident, when Mumbai City clinched the deal after a brief exchange of bids with Delhi Dynamos.
"Well, I am not disappointed with the price I received," said Chetri, who, however, looked visibly down after he was picked up by Mumbai. "After playing football for 13 years, I am not after money any more. Moreover, the prospect of playing with Nicolas Anelka in the forward line has become the added attraction for me in the ISL this time," he added.
The other national team striker, Robin Singh, also did not attract a big purse. With a base price of Rs 40 lakh, he was bought by Delhi for Rs 51 lakh. Robin did not attend the auction as he was down with chicken pox.
