ISL 2018: Tendulkar part ways with Kerela Blasters, Ganguly names ATK title favourites

Cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar has taken an exit from his association with ISL side, Kerela Blasters.

As per reports, new owners have taken over this club and have bought the shares from all the other stakeholders as well to have total control. Sachin Tendulkar owned a 20% stake of Kerela Blasters.

“I strongly believe that Kerala Blasters is in very good shape and on its path to attain many more successes with the backing of its fans offering unconditional support. I am very proud of Kerala Blasters and a piece of my heart will always beat for the club. Over the last four years, Kerala Blasters Football Club has been an integral part of my life. I have undergone all the emotions that millions of Kerala Blasters fans have undergone during this period.” were the parting words from Sachin Tendulkar as he parted ways with the Kochi-based ISL outfit.

 

Ganguly optimistic about ATK’s chances:

Elsewhere, Sachin’s former teammate Saurav Ganguly has made a bold claim that his Indian Super League’s club ATK will be winning the fifth season of the competition.

ATK will be hosting Kerela Blasters in the season opener at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. The team has also won the title twice, and are looking to win an unprecedented third one to have an unparalleled trophy collection.

“To all, this is the new film of the season, hopefully, it will bring us luck and we will have a good year this year. Our record at Hero ISL is phenomenal, yes it wasn’t a great year last year but we will surely turn it around,” Ganguly said speaking to the media.

Meanwhile, last season’s ISL finalist Bengaluru FC have named their squad ahead of the new season. It is going to be the Indian captain Sunil Chhetri who will be leading the side to win the title in just the second season of them being in this competition.

Here’s the Blues’ attack that is set to storm the @IndSuperLeague this campaign! Who’s going to score the most number of goals? #WeAreBFC pic.twitter.com/BVvMr2HeKb

— Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) September 19, 2018

Here is the full squad:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Soram Poirei Anganba, Aditya Patra

Defenders: Rahul Bheke, Albert Serran, Sairuat Kima, Juanan Gonzalez, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Rino Anto, Nishu Kumar, Asheer Akhtar, Gursimrat Singh Gill

Midfielders: Erik Paartalu, Kean Francis Lewis, Dimas Delgado, Bidyananda Singh, Boithang Haokip, Francisco ‘Xisco’ Hernandez, Ajay Chhetri, Altamash Sayed

Forwards: Nicolas Ladislao Fedor ‘Miku’, Sunil Chhetri, Thongkhosiem Haokip, Udanta Singh, Chencho Gyeltshen.