INDIAN ACES: Expectations, responsibilities & a catch-22 situation with KBFC's Indian players

AFTER REACHING THE final of the maiden ISL, Kerala Blasters suffered a major fall last year, with a misguided team putting on a miserable show before bowing out of the race to top four before anyone else.

Although the franchise can count on their fans to stay loyal and turn up in numbers, the team has to eye a turnaround despite being more financially constrained than some of the big teams in the fray like Atletico de Kolkata and Chennaiyin FC.

So a lot of the responsibility for the attempted turnaround will fall on the shoulders of the Indian players in the team. And while the Blasters have a number of talented domestic players in their roster, and ISL teams who have put enough emphasis on domestic players have been rewarded in the past, certain situations make it tricky for the Blasters to put on a full-strength team out there and really go for the kill, especially in the first few games. 

Let's take a look at some of their most treasured Indian players, and the issues that may plague them at some point during the campaign...