When it comes to Indian Super League players' draft, more often than not, it brings smiles to faces on Indian footballers as a contract with any of the teams means good money on the cards. For instance, in the recently concluded ISL Players' draft on Sunday, Jamshedpur FC and Atletico de Kolkata (new name ATK) signed Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Anas Edathodika for Rs 1.1 crores respectively.
However, it is not all smiles for some. On one of the big occasions of Indian football (players draft), some gain while some lose as there are a number of players who go unsold as well. In a pool of 205 players, not everyone can find a suitor.
Only 134 footballers were signed on Sunday, meaning there were many unsold players as which include high-profile Syed Rahim Nabi and Gourmangi Singh.
Make no mistake, both Nabi and Gourmangi have been quality players during their days in prime, but one has to remember that teams come up with certain plans in the draft. They try to get players, which fits the bill perfectly. This time around, it seems that Nabi and Gourmangi missed the cut in the draft.
Nabi being ignored makes good sense as the player has been out of touch with football due to his involvement in politics too. However, with Gourmangi, it is quite surprising. He is 31 years old, and his price tag of 35 lakhs also did not look too high, to act as a deterrent.
Besides the well-known established Indian footballers, there were some, who also missed the cut in Mumbai.
Another player, Ravanan Dharamraj - his exclusion also surprised some as he is a good defender and has experience by his side. In such a competitive league, it would have been handy for teams to go for Ravanan.
Besides the mentioned players above, some players Saumik Dey, Nallappan Mohanraj, Darren Caldeira, NS Manju among others also did not find any takers.
