Sportskeeda Indian Football Awards: Top 10 Indian midfielders of 2016

#8 Malsawmzuala

Malsawmzuala in action at the Kanteerava Stadium in the 2016 I-League

Readers’ Ranking – 9

If Siam Hanghal didn’t play too many games, it was because of this unassuming youngster. Sawmtea was 18 years old when the I-League started and it said a lot about his ability that Ashley Westwood trusted him with playing that defensive midfield role.

It was huge for Bengaluru that Sawmtea developed as much as did and adapted into the role. Josh Walker had just got injured before the start of the season and Eugeneson Lyngdoh missed a few games in the middle because of an injury.

It meant that without their lynchpins in midfield, someone had to step up to the plate. That someone was Sawmtea.

But in the second half of 2016, in Bengaluru’s AFC Cup campaign, Sawmtea didn’t feature as much. That was because of the signings of Cameron Watson and Alvaro Rubio. But the youngster wouldn’t have complained as there would have been so much for him to learn from the wealth of experience that the Australian and Spaniard brought with them.