The second edition of the Hero Indian Super League saw a much improved as well as diverse performance from the Indian contingent. Season 2 witnessed 186 goals at an average of 3.05 per match, surpassing last year’s tally of 129 goals at an average of 2.11. It’s a heartening fact that out of 186 goals, 48 came from Indians as they nearly doubled their last year’s number of 27. Here are a few key comparisons between Season 1 and Season 2 as regards Indian players’ performances.Striking the right noteQuite a few outstanding performances were delivered by the Indian striking contingent this season with Mumbai City FC frontman Sunil Chhetri leading the goal-scoring charts. The India national team skipper justified his top billing at the Hero ISL Auction earlier this year as he scored seven goals in 11 matches. This was a healthy improvement over Jeje Lalpekhlua’s four goals for Chennaiyin FC, the highest for an Indian last season.Chhetri also became the first player of Hero ISL 2015 to don the Golden Boot armband, a feat accomplished by Chennaiyin FC’s Elano last season.Other Indians to come close with their stellar goal-scoring performances this season were Jeje, who scored six goals in 11 games, and Atlético de Kolkata striker Arata Izumi who scored five goals in 11 appearances. Jeje’s goals – most of them at crucial times – were one of the main reasons behind the Super Machans’ triumph this season. The 24-year-old’s contribution didn’t go unnoticed as he was named the ISL Emerging Player of the League.How may I assist you?Indian footballers assisted on 45 different occasions this season, taking it up a notch from last year’s number of 32. It was FC Goa’s Romeo Fernandes who was at the top of list this season with four assists. Last year it was three assists, jointly held by Harmanjot Khabra, Balwant Singh (Chennaiyin FC) and Francis Fernandes (Delhi Dynamos FC).Under the bar, wunderbar!Indian goalkeepers have been nothing short of amazing this season. Four out of the eight Hero ISL teams had Indians as their first-choice goalkeepers. While just two Indians - Mumbai City FC’s Subrata Paul and NorthEast United FC’s TP Rehenesh - made it to the list of “Top 5 with Most Saves”, this year’s Top 5 was dominated by four Indians with Rehenesh, Laxmikant Kattimani (FC Goa), Paul and Amrinder Singh (Atlético de Kolkata) making the cut.Rehenesh, with 47 crucial saves from 12 matches, led the charts in his second season of Hero ISL, seven more than what he achieved last year with the Highlanders.These figures amply suggest that the league is on the right track as regards its aim to improve the quality of football in India. At this rate, the sky is the limit for Indian football.
