Kolkata: The Indian Super League has been one of the major markers in the development of Indian football, bringing in quality coaches and also popular foreign faces to play in India. This is evident in India’s recent run of remaining unbeaten in nine official international matches, while also securing their best ever position in FIFA rankings (96) in the last 21 years.
While the present generation can be said to be extremely lucky to get such a grand platform to envision their career, a question that always remains is, What if such a revolution had happened earlier in Indian football?
Legendary Indian footballer Inivalappil Mani Vijayan opines just this, as he draws a comparison between the present time to that of his. Vijayan has been one of the most accomplished strikers of India, having won the Indian Player of the Year award three times, in the years 1993, 1997 and 1999.
Michael Chopra just a month ago had revealed that Indian icon Bhaichung Bhutia had informed him that during their playing days, they were made to run around the pitch 10 times and then play XI a side, as a part of their training. The Indian legend echoed the same words, as he said, “The training that they (the players) get nowadays is better than what players like myself used to get,” in an interaction with indiansuperleague.com.
Interestingly, both Bhaichung and Vijayan formed one of the deadliest partnerships in Indian football during the 90’s. However, the lack of proper training facilities and quality coaches hindered the progress of Indian football as compared to now.
“I played in my village and we had only one academy, which was the Tata Football Academy. Now there are a lot of good academies with good coaches,” said the Arjuna Awardee.
Having had to play many matches in muddy fields and grounds drowned in water, the now 48 year old credits the Indian Super League for bringing vast improvements in the football facilities and grounds. “The difference is that confidence has come into football,” he says.
He adds, “Now the players get good training. During our time, there used to be one assistant coach and one chief coach, but now there are goalkeeping coaches, etc. That’s why it has improved a lot.”
Earlier, the Indian team would very rarely parcipate in international fixtures and would only focus on domestic tournaments. The prospects of playing international matches not only brings in valuable experience but it also provides the opportunity to the young guns to see and play against foreign stars, which undoubtedly helps a player in his development. This is what the ISL has done, bringing in top names from the world of football to play in India.
Vijayan thinks, that the Indian players can learn from these legends of the game.
“They get to play in front of great players like (Thierry) Henry, which is very good for them. Jeje has played with a lot of good players at Chennaiyin FC, which has helped his performance in the Indian team, and now he is scoring as well. It is the same with Sunil Chhetri. They have gained a lot of experience. It is very good that these big players come to the ISL,” he said.
With Indian football going through a great phase at the moment, one can only dream of bigger and better things to happen in Indian football.
But the most fearsome striker in Indian football history wishes, that he could play in the ISL. “Yes, I wish the ISL happened in my time,” he said. Perhaps, IM Vijayan in his prime, playing in the ISL would have been a interesting prospect for Indian football.