It is indisputable that the expansion of Indian football in the last decade has been quite phenomenal, thanks to the introduction of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL). The 2020-21 season, in fact, was a special case.

Starting from the 2020-21 season, the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) became an 11-team league, which increased the maximum number of league matches to 110 – meaning a team could play a minimum of 20 matches in a season.

With the maximum number of foreigners reduced to four in the playing XI ahead of the Hero ISL 2021-22 season, there have been plenty of commendable attacking talents to grace the Indian top-flight football. Be it brilliant attackers like Sunil Chhetri, Sivasakthi Narayanan, Ishan Pandita, and Rahim Ali or wingers like Bipin Singh, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Ritwik Das, Nandhakumar Sekar, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, and Lallianzuala Chhangte.

The Hero ISL 2022-23 season is no exception but what has been more inspiring to see is how Indian attackers have broken free of their shackles, buzzing with technique and flair and making their presence felt at the biggest stage of Indian football.

Indian players have readily occupied the limelight in the Hero ISL 2022-23 season with their significant goal contributions for their respective teams.

Indian players have scored 116 goals in the 110 league matches this season, which is the most they have scored in the league phase of a single Hero ISL season. This marks only the second instance where homegrown players have scored more than 100 goals in a single season of the league.

In the Hero ISL 2022-23 season, Indian players have scored 35.80% of the total goals, falling slightly behind the 36.03% record set in the 2018-19 season.

The contribution of Indian players in the attacking third is not just limited to scoring goals but providing goal assists.

The Hero ISL 2022-23 season also saw Indian players recording their best-ever assist tally of 111 assists, surpassing their previous record of 103 assists set in the 2021-22 season. In terms of proportion, local stars have provided a greater share of assists in the first 110 games (49.33%), which accounts for nearly half of the total goals scored this season.

The Indian contingent has significantly enjoyed more shots than in the previous couple of seasons, marking their presence in the attacking moves. They have attempted a record of 1408 shots, which is only 55 shots lesser than the total number of shots attempted by the foreign contingent this season.

And in terms of percentage, 48.97% of the total shots taken in the season have been attempted by Indian players, setting a new record for them at this stage of the season.

There have been 51 different Indian goal scorers this season, which is the second-best tally set by the local players at the end of the league phase across all ISL seasons. The previous best at this stage of the season was 57 unique Indian goal scorers which were in the 2021-22 season.

Slowly but steadily head coaches have started showing their trust in Indian attackers and there have been quite a few occasions this season where coaches have opted out for an all-Indian forward line. It is evident from the numbers that the Indian attackers are repaying that confidence shown in them by their respective coaches. 

With the numbers going upwards through each passing season, Indians have already started making their mark. Come the end of the 2022-23 campaign, there could potentially be another host of records that could be broken.