The second edition of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) so far has witnessed 21 matches and what a brilliant journey it has been! Some of the performances, both team and individual, have been nothing short of breath-taking. In our first statistical review, indiansuperleague.com looks at how the teams and players fared in the passing department.

As of now, a total of 12,740 passes have been completed with an average passing accuracy of 75.1% per match. Players across all eight teams have contributed to 828 crosses, with an average of 39.43 crosses every match.

True to their aggressive, attacking style of play, not only do Chennaiyin FC lead the goal-scorers’ table amongst all Hero ISL clubs with 10 successful strikes but they also lead in the assists (nine) and successful passes departments (1840). Their passing accuracy stands at a slick 76.03%. FC Goa take the second spot with eight goals, eight assists, 1733 successful passes and 74.92% passing accuracy, followed by FC Pune City who have scored seven goals, six assists, 1418 successful passes and 72.16 passing accuracy.

These first three weeks of the second edition of the Hero ISL have seen the rise of quite a few Indian pass masters. The pace and the creativity shown by them has increased the quality of play. However, it’s the Brazilian playmaker Elano who leads the assists tally with four.

Among the Indians, Sanju Pradhan from NorthEast United FC leads with three assists. Canadian Iain Hume and Spaniard Joffre keep Pradhan company on three assists each. Following them on the charts with two assists to their names are Indians Israil Gurung, CK Vineeth, Jayesh Rane and Eugeneson Lyngdoh. Among the foreigners Florent Malouda and Sony Norde have notched two assists each.

In Season 2015, 11 Indian pass masters have been responsible for 17 assists, compared to 10 assists by nine Indian players last season at this juncture. With holistic development being observed across all teams, it is safe to say the league has become more competitive and that it’s increasingly becoming difficult to predict a clear winner.