ISL 2020: How It All Lines Up
India’s premier football competition, Indian Super League will be back in action from 20th November kicking-off the 2020-21 season. All of the 11 teams have reached Goa for the seventh edition of the ISL and are currently busy with the pre-season friendlies.
This season in ISL we will witness 115 games as each clubs will face each other in a double round-robin format and the top-four at the end of the regular season will advance to the playoffs. Here’s how each teams squad has shaped up for the 2020-21 season of the ISL:
ATK Mohun Bagan
Goalkeepers: Arindam Bhattacharjee, Dheeraj Singh, Arsh Shaikh, Aryan Niraj Lamba, Avilash Paul
Defenders: Tiri, Sandesh Jhingan, Prabir Das, Pritam Kotal, Subhasish Bose, Sumit Rathi, Boris Singh Thangjam
Midfielders: Edu Garcia, Javier Hernandez, Carl McHugh, Glan Martins, Michael Soosairaj, Jayesh Rane, Pronay Halder, Bradden Inman, Michael Regin, Sahil Sheikh, Ningombam Engson Singh, Md. Fardin Ali Molla
Forwards: Roy Krishna, David Williams, Manvir Singh
Bengaluru FC
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Lara Sharma, Dipesh Chauhan, Lalthuammawia Ralte
Defenders: Juanan, Rahul Bheke, Fran Gonzalez, Harmanjot Khabra, Ajith Kumar, Joe Zoherliana, Biswa Darjee, Namgyal Bhutia, Parag Srivas, Pratik Chaudhari, Wungngayam Muirang
Midfielders: Dimas Delgado, Erik Paartalu, Suresh Wangjam, Thoi Singh, Ajay Chhetri, Naorem Roshan Singh, Emanuel Lalchhanchhuaha, Amay Morajkar
Forwards: Sunil Chhetri, Kristian Opseth, Cleiton Silva, Ashique Kuruniyan, Deshorn Brown, Udanta Singh, Edmund Lalrindika, Leon Augustin, Semboi Haokip
Chennaiyin FC
Goalkeepers: Karanjit Singh, Vishal Kaith, Revanth BY, Samik Mitra
Defenders: Eli Sabia, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Enes Sipovic, Lalchhuanmawia Fanai, Reagan Singh, Deepak Tangri, Aqib Nawab, Remi Aimol, Ganesan Balaji
Midfielders: Anirudh Thapa, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Rafael Crivellaro, Memo Moura, Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev, Edwin Vanspaul, Thoi Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh, Germanpreet Singh, Abhijit Sarkar, Sinivasan Pandiyan, Aman Chetri
Forwards: Esmael Goncalves, Jakub Sylvestr, Rahim Ali
FC Goa
Goalkeepers: Mohammad Nawaz, Naveen Kumar, Dylan D’Silva, Shubham Dhas
Defenders: Ivan Gonzalez, James Donachie, Seriton Fernandes, Aibanbha Dohling, Leander D’Cunha, Mohamed Ali, Sanson Pereira, Sarineo Fernandes, Saviour Gama
Midfielders: Edu Bedia, Flan Gomes, Jorge Ortiz, Brandon Fernandes, Alberto Noguera, Lenny Rodrigues, Redeem Tlang, Seiminlen Doungel, Nestor Dias, Phrangki Buam, Princeton Rebello, Alexander Jesuraj, Makan Chothe
Forwards: Igor Angulo, Ishan Pandita, Aaren D’Silva, Devendra Murgaonkar
Hyderabad FC
Goalkeepers: Subrata Paul, Laxmikant Kattimani, Manas Dubey, Lalbiakhlua Jongte
Defenders: Chinglensana Singh, Odei Onaindia, Dimple Bhagat, Nikhil Prabhu, Sahil Panwar, Akash Mishra, Kynsailang Khongsit, Asish Rai
Midfielders: Adil Khan, Halicharan Narzary, Joao Victor, Laldanmawia Ralte, Lluis Sastre, Hitesh Sharma, Abhishek Halder, Sahil Tavora, Mark Zothanpuia, Mohamed Yasir, Nikhil Poojary, Souvik Chakrabarti, Sweden Fernandes
Forwards: Aridane Santana, Fran Sandaza, Joel Chianese, Liston Colaco, Ishan Dey, Lalawmpuia, Rohit Danu
Jamshedpur FC
Goalkeepers: TP Rehenesh, Pawan Kumar, Niraj Kumar, Raj Mahato, Vishal Yadav
Defenders: Peter Hartley, Stephen Eze, Narender Gehlot, Joyner Lourenco, Laldinliana Renthlei, Karan Amin, Manash Protim Gogoi, Sandip Mandi, Ricky Lallawmawma, Subhash Barua
Midfielders: Aitor Monroy, Alex Lima, Jackichand Singh, Nicholas Fitzgerald, Issac Vanmalsawma, Amarjit Singh, Mobashir Rahman, Jitendra Singh, Manisana Singh, Harsha Parui, Billu Teli, Gorachand Mardi, Gaurab, Bhupender Singh
Forwards: Nerijus Valskis, David Grande, Aniket Jadhav, Sapam Kennedy Singh, William Lalnunfela
Kerala Blasters
Goalkeepers: Albino Gomes, Bilal Khan, Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Muheet Khan
Defenders: Costa Nhamoinesu, Nishu Kumar, Bakary Kone, Jessel Carneiro, Sandeep Singh, Abdul Hakku, Lalruatthara
Midfielders: Sergio Cidoncha, Sahal Abdul Samad, Vicente Gomez, Seityasen Singh, Rahul KP, Givson Singh, Lalthathanga Khawlhring, Yendrembam Denechandra, Nongdamba Naorem, Arjun Jayaraj, Ayush Adhikari, Jeakson Singh, Prasanth Karuthadathkuni, Ritwik Das, Rohit Kumar
Forwards: Gary Hooper, Jordan Murray, Facundo Pereyra, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Shaiborlang Kharpan
Mumbai City FC
Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Nishit Shetty, Vikram Singh, Phurba Lachenpa
Defenders: Mourtada Fall, Mandar Rao Dessai, Tondonba Singh, Sarthak Golui, Amey Ranawade, Mohamad Rakip, Mehtab Singh, Valpuia
Midfielders: Ahmed Jahouh, Cy Goddard, Hugo Boumous, Herman Santana, Rowllin Borges, Farukh Choudhary, Raynier Fernandes, Bidyananda Singh, Asif Khan, Bipin Singh, Pranjal Bhumij, Sourav Das, Vikram Singh, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy
Forwards: Bartholomew Ogbeche, Adam Le Fondre
NorthEast United FC
Goalkeepers: Sanjiban Ghosh, Subhasish Roy, Gurmeet, Nikhil Deka
Defenders: Ashutosh Mehta, Benjamin Lambot, Dylan Fox, Gurjinder Kumar, Mashoor Shereef, Nabin Rabha, Nim Dorjee, Provat Lakra, Wayne Vaz, Rakesh Pradhan
Midfielders: Federico Gallego, Khassa Camara, Lalengmawia, Imran Khan, Lalrempuia Fanai, Pragyan Gogoi, Rochharzela
Forwards: Idrissa Sylla, Luis Machado, Kwesi Appiah, Britto PM, Ninthoinganba Meetei, Lalkhawpuimawia, Suhair Vadakkepeedika
Odisha FC
Goalkeepers: Kamaljit Singh, Ravi Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ankit Bhuyan
Defenders: Steven Taylor, Jacob Tratt, Shubham Sarangi, Gaurav Bora, Hendry Antonay, Kamalpreet Singh, George D’Souza, Mohammad Dhot, Saurabh Meher
Midfielders: Cole Alexander, Nandhakumar Sekar, Paul Ramfangzauva, Samuel Lalmuanpuia, Vinit Rai, Thoiba Singh, Isak Vanlalruatfela, Jerry Mawihmingthana, Boaringdao Bodo, Lahrezuala Sailung
Forwards: Marcelo Pereira, Manuel Onwu, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Diego Mauricio, Laishram Singh
SC East Bengal
Goalkeepers: Debjit Majumder, Rafique Ali, Mirshad Michu, Sankar Roy
Defenders: Daniel Fox, Scott Neville, Gurtej Singh, Narayan Das, Lalramchullova, Abhishek Ambekar, Rana Gharami, Samad Mallick, Mohamed Irshad, Ningthoukhongjam Rohen Singh, Anil Chawan, Novin Gurung, Pritam Singh
Midfielders: Aaron Hammadi-Holloway, Anthony Pilkington, Matti Steinman, Jacques Maghoma, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Bikash Jairu, Sehnaj Singh, Surchandra Singh, Loken Metei, Haobam Singh, Milan Singh, Wahengbam Luwang, Mohamed Rafique, Yumnam Singh
Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh, CK Vineeth, Girik Khosla, Harmanpreet Singh
The seventh edition of the ISL will be like no other as the competition takes place under special circumstances. All matches will be played in a centralized venue, exclusively in Goa and no fans will be allowed in the stadium. One venue will be beneficial for teams as they will have more time to rest, train and recover between matches. I-League heavyweights like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal have joined the league and the clubs with rich history will attract a lot of eyeballs for their matches.
The ISL this season will form a central medical team and employ a League Hygiene Officer who will oversee issuing operational directives and implementing the same across the spectrum. The ISL also has mandated that the clubs hire a Hygiene Officer of their own who will be in charge of ensuring the health and safety of the players/team officials throughout the season.
All personnel will be divided into 3 group – High Protection, Medium Protection and General Protection. High Protection group will consist of players, co-residents, team officials, backroom staff and television presenters. They will be tested twice or trice a week. Medium protection group will consist of league staff, broadcast staff, club management officials and hotel staff and will be tested once or twice a week. The general protection group will be the accredited agency staff who will be tested once a week.
Like the top European leagues, teams will ensure the players return to full-fledged training in 4 phases as to not risk their health.
Level 1 – On their arrival to the host city, players will need to train in isolation individually for six days. They will be tested for the virus on the first and fourth day.
Level 2 – Players will start training in small staggered groups for the next 10-12 days. There will be restrictions on the number of sessions, facility use and personnel involved. During this stage, the players will be tested thrice – on the 8th, 11th and 14th days.
Level 3 – The training groups will be larger in this stage but all social distancing and personal hygiene measures will be implemented. Players will be tested twice a week or once every four days at this stage.
Level 4 – This stage is a glimpse of the past practices where the restrictions are to be relaxed to varying degrees depending upon the government directives. The players will continue to be tested once a week.
All the matches of ISL 2020-21 will be broadcasted by Disney Star India. You can watch the matches on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 2HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD Hindi, Star Sports Tamil, Star Sports Telugu, Star Sports Kannada, Star Sports Bangla, Asia Net Plus, Asia Net Movies, Star Gold 2. Apart from this, you can also stream matches live on Disney+ Hotstar & JioTV.