WORLD CLASS PLAYERS IN PRO LEAGUES

HIL 5 (2017) PKL 6 (2018-19) PBL 4 (2018-19) PWL 4 (2019) IPL 12 (2019) PVL 1 (2019) ISL 5 (2018-19) Not world class World class

TENNIS TABLE

s 0m singles or men’s/women’s/mixed

HOCKEY INDIA LEAGUE PRO KABADDI LEAGUE PREMIER BADMINTON LEAGUE PRO WRESTLING LEAGUE INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE (CRICKET) PRO VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE INDIAN SUPER LEAGUE (FOOTBALL) highest-ranked men’s singles player in UTT was then-12thranked Simon Gauzy of France while the top women’s singles player was then-13th-ranked Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong.

On the other hand, of the 70 overseas players in the 2018-19 season of ISL, only one—the Australian Tim Cahill who plays for Jamshedpur Fc—met our criterion for football. The criterion is that players should have been selected for their national team at 22

for national

11 37 the 2018 World Cup or recent regional championships such as the Copa America, European championships or African Cup of Nations. If we were even stricter with the criteria, even Cahill would be dropped since he’s retired from international football now.

Criteria similar to that of table tennis and football were applied to foreign players in other leagues, using the latest seasons for which data is available.

The one thing that can be said in the defence of the ISL is that it is a six-month-long affair from September 2018 to March 2019 while leagues such as UTT last just two weeks.

Global stars would find it easier to commit to something for a fortnight as opposed to the six months ISL requires.

Also, ISL functions less as a one-off tournament and more as a league that is part of the world footballing structure or ‘pyra-

for national team at 2018 Italy and Selected national team at 2018 Cup or Copa America,