Athletico de Kolkata biggest spender in ISL draft

Athletico de Kolkata were the biggest spenders, splurging Rs.3.91 crore in buying 14 Indian players at the two-day Indian Super League (ISL) players' draft that concluded here Wednesday.

In all, the six ISL franchises spent over Rs.20 crore buying 84 players in the two- day draft.

Close on the heels of Kolkata were Ranbir Kapoor's Mumbai team with Rs.3.76 crore followed by Team Bengaluru (Rs.3.04 crore), Sachin Tendulkar-owned Kerala Blasters (Rs.3.31 crore) and Salman Khan's Team Pune (Rs.3.19 crore). Den Network-owned Delhi Dynamos spent the least (Rs.2.81 crore).

John Abraham's North-East United FC and Team Goa have selected the teams mostly from their I-League players, shelling out around Rs.2 crore each. They did not want to lose their loyal players by recruiting from the central pool.

The biggest draw of the day was Dempo footballer Sanju Pradhan, who was drafted by Kolkata outfit for Rs.70 lakh. Former India stars Climax Lawrence (Rs.30 lakh) and Steven Dias (Rs.18 lakh), who had played a stellar role in India's maiden Nehru Cup triumph in 2007, were bought by Atletico de Kolkata and Delhi Dyanmos.

The tension mounted as the draft proceedings neared the closing hours with the representatives of the clubs intensely calculating how best they could spend to get the right players.

Over 15 India internationals, who have played for the country in the last three years, and 12 players from the age-group national sides were drafted.

Jefferson Slack, senior vice-president, IMG Global Football Development, said it was very "fulfilling to see the way the draft was gone through".

"It's so fulfilling to see the realisation of the vision and hard work. This is also a step to inspire young Indians not only to follow but also to play the sport as this is a project for the development of Indian Football," said Slack.

Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia insisted it has been a "learning process" for him.

Team line-ups:

Delhi Dynamos FC: Adil Khan, Manish Bhargav, Govin Singh, Jagroop Singh, Steven Dias, Anwar Ali, Manandeep Singh, Francis Fernandes, Robert Lalthamuana, Naoba Singh, Shylo Malswamtluanga, Shouvik Ghosh, Shouvik Chakraborty, Munmun Lugun

Atletico de Kolkata: Sanju Pradhan, Kinshuk Debnath, Lester Fernandes, Subhasish Roychowdhury, Baljit Sahni, Climax Lawrence, Mohanraj Nallappan, Cavin Lobo, Arnab Mondal, Denzil Franco, Rakesh Masih, Mohammed Rafique, Mohammed Rafi, Biswajit Saha

Team Bengaluru: Abhishek Das, Jayesh Rane, Abhijit Mondal, Anthony Barbosa, Dane Pereira, NP Pradeep, Jaison Vales, Harmanjot Khabra, Dhanachandra Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Gouramangi Singh, Shilton Paul, Denson Devadas, Khelemba Meitei

Kerala Blasters FC: Avinabo Bag, Sandip Nandy, CS Sabeeth, Luis Barreto, Milagres Gonsalves, Ramandeep Singh, Renedy Singh, Mehtab Hussain, Sandesh Jhingan, Ishfaq Ahmed, Gurwinder Singh, Nirmal Chettri, Sushant Matthew, Godwin Franco

Team Mumbai: Rohit Mirza, Ishan Debnath, Nadong Bhutia, Asif Kottiyal, Peter Costa, Lalrinfela, Sushil Kumar Singh, Subrata Paul, Lalrindika Ralte, Syed Rahim Nabi, Raju Gaikwad, Subash Singh, Ram Malik, Deepak Mondal

Team Pune: Deepak Devrani, Tapan Maity, Arindam Bhattacharya, Anupam Sarkar, Pratik Shinde, Lalit Thapa, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Lenny Rodrigues, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Ashutosh Mehta, Joaquim Abranches, Pritam Kotal, Manish Maithani, Israil Gurung

Team Goa: Mandar Rao Desai, Romeo Fernandes, Peter Carvalho, Holicharan Narzary, Pronay Halder, Prabir Das, Rowlison Rodrigues, laxmikant Kattimani, Debabrata Roy, Gabriel Fernandes, Clifford Miranda, Jewel Raja Shaikh, Alwyn George, Narayan Das

North East United FC: Pritam Kumar Singh, Milan Singh, Robin Gurung, Allen Deory, Redeem Tlang, Seminlen Doungel, David Ngaihte, Kunzang Bhutia, Jibon Singh, Durga Boro, Aibor Khongjee, Zodingliana Ralte, TP Rehnesh, Boithang Haokip