Kashyap all praise for ISL in improving Indian football

Guwahati: Coach Santosh Kashyap heaped praise on the Indian Super League (ISL) for making football what it is in the country today just days after

Aizawl FC

knocked

ISL

champions Chennaiyin FC out of the

Super Cup

.

“One of the best things to happen to Indian football is the ISL. The level of the game has risen. Money has flown in and marketing has improved. Infrastructure and the ground conditions have also been enhanced,” said Kashyap.

The man who has been part of Indian football for more than 30 years also sounded pleased with the way the game has flourished in the country over the past few years. “Earlier the game was restricted to a few regions but now it has spread all over the country. Apart from the old clubs, teams like Aizawl FC, Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters also have great fan base these days.”

“Great changes, great facilities and good money” were the words he concluded his reply with. Although his words are true, it remains to be seen how these changes help the Indian players perform at the world stage.

Kshyap is also in favour of

AIFF

’s intention to merge the two leagues in the future and does not believe that it will be a problem for the low-budget I-League teams to compete with the big-budget ISL teams.

“Nowhere in the world do all the teams have the same budget or the same calibre. First there are top five six teams and then there are some in the middle and some at the bottom. It will be the same here. All the teams will get equal opportunity, they will get to perform, then get the sponsors and that will help them increase their budget,” he added.

Although budget is an issue, it does not always decide the winner as is quite evident from the way small clubs like Minerva Punjab and Aizawl FC have won the I-League over the past two years fending off the challenge from big-budget clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Bengaluru FC.

Speaking on this trend, Kashyap said: “Players of big-budget teams are always under pressure to perform and it’s not easy to give your best when you are always under pressure. For the smaller clubs, it’s always a challenge and that helps them perform better.”

As for Aizawl FC, Kashyap is more than happy with the challenge. “We tried to bring in some new players but that didn’t happen. As a result I have to keep changing the formation and experiment with the players,” he said after overseeing the team’s practice session two days ahead of their AFC Cup match against Bengaluru FC.

Although the scheduling of the Super Cup is a bit hectic, since they will be playing two AFC Cup matches in the middle of the Super Cup, the coach isn’t complaining too much. “It’s easier to play when you are not thinking about the difficulties. We have to cope with it and give our best in both the Super Cup and AFC Cup,” added the Mumbaikar as he strode off with the team for an ice bath.