Hyderabad FC’s Akash Mishra has been voted as the Emerging Player of the Month for January in the ongoing Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21. The young defender beat the likes of Lalengmawia (NorthEast United FC) and teammate Asish Rai, who came second and third respectively.

The other nominees in contention for the award were his Hyderabad teammates Mohammed Yasir, Chinglensana Singh and Liston Colaco as well as December’s winner Suresh Wangjam from Bengaluru FC. Rahul KP, Jeakson Singh and Sandeep Singh made the cut from Kerala Blasters FC, while Amey Ranawade and Bipin Singh were the nominees from Mumbai City FC. Alexander Jesuraj from FC Goa was also among 13 nominees.

19-year-old Akash was the clear winner, receiving 6 first picks from a panel of 12 experts from the broadcast team. He also got 3 second picks. Lalengmawia and Rai bagged 2 first picks each as well as 1 second pick each. The NorthEast United youngster then bagged the second place after getting 4 third picks as compared to 1 for Rai.

It may be noted that these awards are strictly for Indian players, and they are a means to encourage and acknowledge their contribution towards their respective Hero ISL teams. In terms of the selection criteria, the age of the player should ideally be 24 years and below, however, in exceptional cases the age limit can go up. The player’s performance in the Hero ISL transcends everything else. In other words, his performance and impact in the league is to outweigh his previous accomplishments as a budding footballer. The Emerging Player of the Month receives a prize of Rs 1,50,000 along with a trophy.