ISL Underachievers - Part I: Indian players who didn't live up to the hype in ISL 2015

GETTING TO PLAY in the ISL is something of a privilege among Indian players. The hundred-odd desi footballers who get picked by one of the franchises of the cash-rich private tournament are immediately set apart from their peers; they make more money, get more publicity and become the only set of players to get a full season of competitive football, combined with I-League, running from October (or before) to all the way into May. 

They are also the players who are likely to get more preference in selections for the national team, since their colleagues who are not playing in the ISL are forced to stay out of competitive football for some of the best months of the season.

So it's common to see players talk about how they can't wait for ISL. Those who miss out on ISL try to give their best in I-League to become an attractive purchase in next year's domestic draft. Bengaluru FC and Pune FC, who initially did not take kindly to the idea of loaning out their players to ISL, were forced to do so by the players this year. 

That's why when a player, coming in with a lot of hype ahead of the ISL season, fails to live up to the expectations for various reasons it's a big disappointment for that player and his fans. ISL 2015 has seen big-ticket players put up underwhelming performances; like Anelka, Moritz, Marchena and others whose time on the pitch was marred or cut short by different circumstances. Much has been written about all that already. 

So in this two-part piece we take a look at Indian players who came in with a lot of promise but we did not get to see the spark in their game that we had been expecting. 

In this first part of two articles, we're only including players from the 4 franchises (Kerala, Pune, Mumbai, NorthEast) who did not make it to the semi-finals.