ISL: Kerala Blasters up against history in season opener

KOCHI: It's that time of the year again when Kochi goes all yellow. The Kerala Blasters are in town. The much-adored football club is set to begin their quest for the Indian Super League title, which has so far eluded them despite coming close twice. The faces of the players pop out from hoardings across every nook and corner of the city. They all sport a battle-ready expression and a generous usage of colloquial Malayalam spices up things for the fans who are in a desperate hunt for tickets.
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The buzz is real and the fourth season of the Indian Super League (ISL) could not have imagined a better fixture to kick off proceedings as the Blasters take on defending champions ATK at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here on Friday night with revenge for last year's defeat in the final on the hosts' mind.
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History is with ATK. They beat Blasters in two finals, 2014 and 2016. Last season, Blasters lost their first home game against ATK, which incidentally was their only loss at home for the entire season. In the eight meetings between the two sides, ATK won five times while Blasters came out on top only once. But that history does not count for much as both teams have gone through a lot of personnel changes, both on and off the pitch.
"We're basically starting from the scratch. The ISL, that way is a unique challenge. We have to bring together a group of 25 Indian players and the foreign players in six weeks. But I have been impressed with the discipline, the willingness to learn, the willingness to work," Blasters manager Rene Meulensteen said ahead of the opener.
The local boy CK Vineeth and Sandesh Jhingan, who has been named the captain for the season, remain the most influential Indian players for the Blasters. The return of fan-favourite Canadian Iain Hume, who had scored in the Blasters' only win over ATK, is also expected to be a boost for the hosts who have roped in renowned foreign names like Dimitar Berbatov and Wes Brown.
Meulensteen's counterpart Teddy Sheringham, meanwhile, talked about how important it would be for his team to make the fans quiet. "It's a fantastic fixture to open the ISL with. It's great for my players to come to this stadium. It's what you dream of as a boy. The aim of the game is to keep these amazing fans quiet," said Sheringham.
While the limited game time Blasters' foreign players have had in their previous clubs puts a question mark over their readiness, ATK look superior in that respect. Their midfielders Carl Baker and Conor Thomas played 47 and 35 games respectively last season for their clubs.
Even though there were rumours that Blasters' star defender Brown was not fully fit, the manager said he had no injury concerns. "We are maybe 3-4 weeks away from hitting top fitness. But for this match, everybody is fit, everybody is available to play. I can basically pick anybody to play," said Meulensteen.
ATK, who have already lost their marquee player Robbie Keane due to an Achilles injury for the first two weeks, have fitness worries about defender Ashutosh Mehta and striker Jayesh Rane. "We have got a few other niggles that players have picked up in pre-season. But we have still got a good squad," said Sheringham.
Sheringham expects Indian striker Robin Singh to step up in the absence of Keane. "Robin is very different from any of the other Indian players that we have. He is very strong. I was sitting alongside him on the flight and for four hours, I had him telling me how good he is," said the former Manchester United and Spurs striker on a lighter note.