ISL 2017 Kerala Blasters Draft Review: Striking and goalkeeping department left open

THE FRANCHISE from Kerala is not going the trend. They have been wise to pick each player with a lot of thought behind it.

It started showing when the names of the retained players were announced. CK Vineeth was one of the crowd favourites at the Kerala Blasters. He was retained first. KBFC have had one of the largest attendance in for all games in the ISL. To give the fans a lot to look forward to this season and maintain the same numbers coming to the stadium, the choice of retaining CK Vineeth was a wise one. He hails from the Kerala state and is one of the regulars in the national team.

Sandesh Jhingan another big name in Kerala and Indian football, took a while to be announced. This could have many reasons from price negotiations to keeping the draft budget in mind. Jhingan was one of the most loved Indian players in the KBFC camp.

Adding to the fan’s quotient, the Blasters went ahead getting Rino Anto, another loved local name to the squad from the draft. The defence looks pretty neat with Lalruatthara and Samuel Shadap being among the experienced and sharp players at the back. At 20 and 21 years of age, Lalthakima and Pritam Kumar bring with them youthfulness to form the remainder of the defence line.

The goal will be guarded by Subhashish Roy Chaudhary, the only goalkeeper picking from the draft, which makes us believe that there will be at least one, if not two more keeper signings before the season; one of them being a foreigner. This is a trend that no other franchise seem to have followed so far this season.

Midfielder of the Blasters boasts of well-known names like Jackichand, Milan Singh and Arata Izumi. Kerala have also gone for some interesting picks in sturdy midfielder Siam Hanghal. Loken Meitei and Ajit Sivan make the developmental quota and will make themselves available for selection in the midfield.

25 year-old Karan Sawhey is the only designated Indian striker in the team who will be seen joining forces with the foreign strikers in the offence.

Get the latest in the world of Sports, Teams, and Players! Free Delivery to your Inbox.