Interview with India international and ISL starlet, Balwant Singh

Balwant Singh with the India national team

For many footballers, the ultimate dream is to represent your country at the international level, to take them to where they have not been before. For some footballers this dream did not come so hard for them as they shown from an early age their quality and ability on the pitch and earned their call-ups but for Balwant Singh, the 5 foot 11 forward for Mohun Bagan, the path to the national team was not quick.

Despite an impressive career with JCT FC in the I-League from 2007 to 2011, Singh only ever made it as a under-23 international with India. It was not until this year that his star finally shined bright and Singh found himself earning that call-up he was waiting for his whole life, at the age of 28, after a break-out season with Churchill Brothers. His form from the I-League eventually translated into the Indian Super League where the man who suited up for Chennaiyin FC became the first Indian goalscorer in league history.

In this interview, Balwant will tell us about how he eventually made it into Indian football stardom and the road he had to take.

Hi, Balwant. First of all, thank you so much for accepting this short-interview.

No problem. I was happy to accept.

Thanks. First question then. Everyone understands what happened after your breakthrough season with Churchill Brothers but what about before that? From JCT to Salgaocar, what was the story there?

Well, after JCT were relegated and folded I saw I had some offers from other I-League clubs. I had a chance to go to Kolkata but in the end I decided to sign for Salgaocar in Goa. Unfortunately, during my two years there, the team managed to find goals from their foreign players and thus I was either left to play on the wing or not play at all.

So how did you change that?

After the 2012-13 season, my contract with Salgaocar had run out and I was free to sign with another club. The defending champions Churchill Brothers offered me a deal so I signed. The club had plenty of fire power in the midfielder but upfront there was not many options as the club was trying to find new players, so I managed to get a run out and I took my chance. The coach had faith in me and I rewarded him and the team by scoring into double figures.

Amazing. You also won the Federation Cup, scoring in the final itself.

Yes, that was probably my favorite moment with Churchill Brothers, winning the cup in Kerala. It was all down to our team spirit and desire to show people that we can compete and win trophies.

Now, unfortunately, after the season ended, Churchill Brothers were relegated. You did sign for Mohun Bagan and then also Chennaiyin. How did those happen and how do you feel about leaving Churchill Brothers?

Leaving Churchill Brothers was hard. I had my best success at the club, I won a trophy, and I got my first India cap while playing for them but if that is what god intended then so be it. Thankfully I did not need long to find another club as Mohun Bagan were more than welcoming to me and Chennaiyin drafted me for the ISL after I signed with IMG-Reliance a month prior (July 2014).

Talking about that India cap. How did that mean to you when you made your debut for India last year?

It was a dream come true. I always wanted to represent India and to finally do it was fantastic. Wim called me over from warm up and told me to go out and once I came in I was the happiest person in the world and now I can’t wait to hopefully represent India more in the future.

Inspiring. Final question. What advice would you give to your fellow footballers who are trying to make it, not just professionally, but as an international.

When the chance is presented to you, take it. Take it and never let it go. Give 100% whenever given the chance because you never know what will come from it and when something seems to not go right, shake it off, and move forward. I did that. I had a good career with JCT, followed by a less than rosy time with Salgaocar but at Churchill Brothers I was presented to chance and I took it and now I can say how happy I am I did it. Hard work payed off in the end and I thank god everyday for that.

Thank you very much for this interview Balwant.

Your’re welcome.

Roster rules are finally out!

The Indian Super League owners in September 2014.

 

Well here it is. The news we’ve all been waiting for since Mohammed Rafique scored the winning goal in the ISL final back in December has now arrived and with both positive and negative reactions.

Yesterday, the Indian Super League organizers, Football Sports Development Ltd., revealed the new roster restrictions for the 2015 season. These restrictions include the introduction of a salary cap of 20 crore ($3,200,000), a minimum roster requirement of 22 players, 8 of which can be foreign, and an introduction of a players auction. It was also announced that each team would be allowed to retain five foreigners from last season and six domestic Indian players. Both the auction and the player retention idea both stem from the Indian Premier League, the Twenty20 cricket competition of India.

Now this news has come as good news for those in the Indian football fandom but also creates some questions. For one, the player auction is said to only include players from the India national team who did not participate in the last ISL. However, currently only eight of the players selected in the recent 26-man squad that will face Nepal in the World Cup qualifiers on Thursday have not played in the ISL. The recent news release said that at least 12 players will be available for the auction but where will the other four players come from?

Another question posed here is whether the salary given to the marquee players will count towards the overall salary cap. The salary cap of the ISL will be less than the one in Major League Soccer but higher than the one in the A-League of Australia but a marquee player could take up at least 25% of that cap. Last season, marquee players such as Alessandro Del Piero and Robert Pires earned $1,700,000 and $700,000 respectively. If these numbers are included in the salary cap then there will be less money for teams to play with for the other 21 players and thus the talent on the field could suffer.

Alessandro Del Piero was the most expensive player during last seasons ISL, earning $1,700,000 for his 2 month stay in India.

As well as that, you also got to question the fact that in the release it was revealed that each team must include two developmental players. Last season a developmental player was an Indian under the age of 23. Most players by that age are past the stage of development so those developmental spots would be most likely better serve players under-21 but so far there is no indication that there is a change in what a developmental player is.

But while these questions are being posed, you also got to congratulate the organizers. Unlike last season, we now have clear roster rules for the league. Last season no one outside of the league knew what the rules where. We had no idea if there was a salary cap, how many foreigners were allowed on each team etc. Now we know and it should make for better debate between ISL fans. Also, now that we know that there is a salary cap we can confirm that the organizers are focused on long-term stability rather than just cashing in quickly on the league.

This gives hope to those who were hoping for further developments down the line. Currently there is hope that the organizers are invested in the Indian Super League in the long run and that eventually we can see more work being done with grassroots and the community which can eventually lead to India becoming a strong contender internationally in the future.

So far this is a good start for the 2015 Indian Super League and I am pretty sure there is more news to come. Last week former Dempo coach Armando Colaco hinted at the possibility of Atletico de Kolkata starting a youth team in the Calcutta Football League and there is also rumors of ownership changes in NorthEast United. Stayed tuned because this off-season is only just getting started.

The Top 5 Uncapped Players on the current India national team

We are close to the day that could define Indian football for years to come. In a little more than a week, India will take on Nepal in a FIFA World Cup qualifier and anything less than a victory could be severely detrimental to Indian football and India coach Stephen Constantine. The Englishman has selected 26 of what he considers the best Indian players currently, 14 of which are uncapped. It will be these uncapped players that will help define Indian football for years but which ones will have the biggest impact?

Here are the 5 uncapped Indian players who could really help contribute to the improvement of Indian football!

5) Anthony D’Souza (Pune FC)

The silent midfielder. Not many people notice him on the pitch but once you check the stats sheet you notice the impact he had.

4) Mandar Rao Desai (Dempo)

His impressive performance in the Indian Super League got him noticed by many and he has been rewarded with a call-up to the national team. The speedy winger will be vital to an Indian team which has lacked a technical winger for years.

3) Eugeneson Lyngdoh (Bengaluru FC)

Not much was expected from Lyngdoh after his move to Bengaluru FC but this season he has been the teams best player and the 28-year old midfielder has been rewarded with his first call-up ever to the national team.

2) Sandesh Jhingan (Sporting Goa)

The Indian Super League Emerging Player of the Year, the defender has made a name for himself within the last year and can play all across the back-line. He is tall, imposing, and very good with his feet. So far the only bright spot on a poor Sporting Goa team.

1) Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (Stabæk – Sweden)

The only Indian player playing abroad right now, Gurpreet will fill a hole in the Indian team and that is the lack of a proper keeper who can keep the back-line in check for 90 minutes and not give away weird penalties that Subrata Pal did.

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