#indianext

No country in the world has parallel leagues, even the FIFA has guidelines against it. But the experiment would be considered necessary in India, with teams in I League reducing over the years, ISL brought the lacking glamour and fame to the sport in the country.

Praful Patel, made it official very recently with plans to merge both the leagues, what seems great is there such a good atmosphere, calling all the teams to the table along with the partner.

We cannot predict the turnout of the deal, but there is good hope if the stars, the money the sponsors, mix with the I - League, creating more jobs, infra, and most importantly support for the game. The number of teams will make it interesting.

What would be wonderful would be to maintain to all the teams, bringing the total to a hefty number, creating a balance and so much more opportunity. In a country with such a huge population, fans will generate, the show will go on and prosper.

ISL has transformed the way India perceived football, now owing to the huge support garnered and the number of players participating both foreign and domestic increasing, has led for the local players to buck and be more competitive for the spots.

Now what is happening on the international front is of great concern, as many Indian players have attracted international attention and now are plying their trade globally. 

The ISL began with a few stars, most of them very old, retired or about to be retired, now in the season two, the younger lot has started coming in. Within the first two seasons, the competition is being compared to that of the MLS in U.S.

What is more looked forward is to see how the I - League copes with it and sees the increase in the number of teams in the near future, and if it can also attract more star players from around the world.

Around a decade ago, football was not visible in India, then came some coverage of the league, and then on, India has shown tremendous progress in the competitions.

Big name players have arrived thanks to ISL, Anelka, Luis Garcia,  Silvestre, Pires, Del Piero, etc. who we never dreamed would come to India so soon, now the tally is increasing with the likes of Roberto Carlos now coming in, the eyes of the world looking at the Indian version of football, its good and we hope it gets better.

Everything said, the new director for scouts of being praised for finding good talent, an European coach who has proven his worth in the past, players who are getting international exposure on a regular basis, a decade long wait but it is picking up the pace.

We have come to a point in time that we realized who we are as a company, a product formed by three of the few of India’s most well known and high achieving footballing names.

Abhishek Yadav, one of the three pillars that Football School of India is now the director of scouts for India, but the praise for his contribution to India’s football continues, as he is leading the charge to find new talent for U - 17 , U - 19 & U - 21 talent, and the reforms he brought about are now being lauded in the capital.

Here is an exert from the interview, where Mr. Das (General Secretary of AIFF) appreciated the efforts; 

"I am pleasantly surprised with the work put in by Abhishek Yadav as Director of Scouting. Through the scouting network, we have got about 20-to-25 players for the Under-17 team and another five-to-six players for the Under-19 side. Last week, we had a meeting with Yadav and we are certainly looking to scale this up massively. We also held a scouting programme recently in Goa in order to help our scouts get better acquaintance with the concept," he explained.