In the Hero Indian Super League (ISL), apart from the big winners and losers, there is great emphasis on the performance of the Indian players.

Thus it was evident that when the league decided to cut down the maximum number of foreign players per team on the pitch ahead of Hero ISL 2021-22 season, all the eyeballs were on how the teams performed with an extra Indian player on the field.

The result was great as we witnessed one of the most entertaining and closely fought campaigns in the Hero ISL as a record number of goals were scored.

Read: Hero ISL 2021-22 in numbers: More goals and goalscorers, higher passing accuracy headline entertaining season

But what was even more heartening to see is how Indian players stepped up to the plate and contributed largely to the attacking endeavours of their respective teams.

Indian players scored more goals this season than any other season before. Even though there was an extra Indian on the pitch for each team this season, the numbers showed that head coaches were willing to trust Indian players in attack and a lot of the Indian attackers repaid the faith shown in them by their bosses.

It may not be the most prolific season for Indians in terms of goals per game but Hero ISL 2021-22 saw the second-best goalscoring contribution by Indian players.

Season	Goals by Foreign Players	Goals by Indian Players	Indian Player %	Average Age (Indian Scorers)
2014	100	27	21.26%	25.85
2015	135	48	26.23%	26.05
2016	109	34	23.78%	25.67
2017-18	181	75	28.73%	25.62
2018-19	158	89	35.03%	24.5
2019-20	214	72	24.49%	24.84
2020-21	212	75	25.17%	23.93
2021-22	221	120	33.8%	24.48

However, Indian players’ involvement in attacking moves was more than ever this season and that is evident from sharp increase in assists provided by the local stars.

In Hero ISL 2021-22, Indians produced their best-ever assist tally and for the first time saw that number go past the 100-mark. If you look at the percentage, almost half of the goals scored this season were assisted by an Indian player.

Season	Assists by Foreign Players	Assists by Indian Players	Indian Player %	Average Age (Indian Assisters)
2014	45	31	40.79%	24.95
2015	96	45	31.91%	26.37
2016	85	29	25.44%	25.36
2017-18	96	72	42.85%	24.71
2018-19	100	72	41.86%	25.09
2019-20	116	83	41.70%	24.02
2020-21	113	84	42.63%	25.77
2021-22	113	107	48.63%	25.09

Indian players also took significantly more shots than in the past seasons showing their involvement in attack as much as the other areas of the pitch.

Season	Shots by Foreign Players	Shots by Indian Players	Indian Player %
2014	1001	510	33.75%
2015	1041	485	31.78%
2016	882	293	24.93%
2017-18	1228	743	37.69%
2018-19	1400	946	40.32%
2019-20	1419	901	38.83%
2020-21	1664	1099	39.77%
2021-22	1601	1431	47.21%

Indian men’s national team head coach’s squad selection for the recently-concluded international friendlies further rubber-stamped the improvement Indian players have shown this season in attack. The likes of Suhair VP, Roshan Singh Naorem, Aniket Jadhav, and Danish Farooq, all received India call-ups for the first time after useful contributions for their respective Hero ISL sides.

The likes of Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, Bipin Singh, and Yasir Mohammed who delivered in front of goal once again retained their places in the Indian national team.

With one season under their belt with the new foreign player rule, expect Hero ISL teams to improve further next season with Indian contribution in attack only expected to increase in the future.