ISL 2018: When David James challenged Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to score a goal

What's the story?

Kerala Blasters have started a new social media trend going by the hashtag #blastersgoalchallenge. Recently, Blasters' coach David James passed on the challenge to Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who humbly accepted it.

In case you didn't know...

Owned by Sachin Tendulkar and managed by ex-England Goalkeeper David James, Kerala Blasters are entering their fifth year in the Indian Super League.

One of the founding eight, Blasters have been a constantly entertaining side over the years, and have given us some brilliant players, such as the Canadian Iain Hume. Although they have never been crowned the champions, Blasters have finished runners-up twice.

Kerala Blasters finished as runners-up in the very first season of ISL, losing to Atletico de Kolkata (now ATK) in the summit clash. They then repeated the feat two years later, once again losing to Kolkata in the final.

The heart of the matter

Training at Transstadia in Ahmedabad, Kerala Blasters were visited by Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. It was here that coach David James challenged Rathore to a simple challenge - score a goal.

Our honorable sports minister @Ra_THORe accepted @jamosfoundation's challenge at @SETransStadia. Now it's your turn, post a video of you scoring a goal with #blastersgoalchallenge. We will retweet the most interesting goals!#KeralaBlasters #FootballChallenge #PreSeason pic.twitter.com/wBSFNI0SLR

— Kerala Blasters FC (@KeralaBlasters) July 17, 2018

The two then completed a short drill before taking a shot at goal. While Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore managed to find the net with his shot, David James didn't. One might argue that James's missed due to modesty and not improper timing.

With that, the Blasters have now started a new social media trend that goes by the name of #blastersgoalchallenge. The two-time runners-up have invited fans to score interesting goals and send across the videos. The best will then be posted online.

What's next?

The Blasters are preparing for the upcoming Indian Super League season in the best way possible. They have strengthened their squad with signings such as Anas Edathodika, Holicharan Narzary, and Dheeraj Singh.

The Blasters will hope to better their best ever finish in the ISL by going on to win the league this time around.