#5 Indian contingent
It would not be wrong to say that this year’s ISL has been the most productive for the Indian players. Hugely talented players like Chennaiyin’s Jerry Lalrinzuala and Delhi’s Kean Lewis have emerged. For Kerala, there were no new talents emerging as such, but the existing crop of Indian players has done its job.
Vineeth, of course, has made a massive impact. But it would be wrong to not acknowledge that Mehtab Hossain, Mohammad Rafi and Sandesh Jhingan have played their roles perfectly too.
None of them are particularly flair players, but they have held their own on the pitch. They have gone about their job unnoticed and that has enabled Coppell to play Stack in goal and not reserve that extra foreigner’s slot to play an outfield player.