Hrithik, Ranbir, John upbeat after ISL auction

Charlie Ross, who conducted the Indian Super League player football auction in Mumbai on Friday, wore a blue tie with a motif of William Shakespeare. And suitably, there was enough theatre at the auction.

One of the main reasons for this was the presence of three recognised Bollywood actors, Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor and John Abraham.

All three are co-owners of teams, and at the end of the auction, they were happy with their investments.
Pune City FC, with which Hrithik is associated, bought Jackichand Singh and Eugeneson Lyngdoh for Rs 45 lakh (base price 20 lakhs) and Rs 1.05 cr (base price 27.5 lakhs), respectively.

Hrithik, dressed in the team's orange blazer and jeans, was excited after the signing. "Orange has become a bit more orange now," he said, gesturing towards his jacket. "Never enjoyed spending so much."

But it was Ranbir who grabbed the biggest catch of the day. Mumbai City FC, which Ranbir represents, bought India captain Sunil Chhetri for Rs 1.2 cr. The striker was expected to fetch more, considering his base price was Rs 80 lakh. If Chhetri felt disappointed, he did not show it.

"Not being diplomatic, but I've been playing football 13 years and money is not the first priority," he said. "I couldn't play ISL last year and am happy just to be able to play now."
Ranbir, though, did not hide his relief. "To have Sunil on our team is a dream come true," he said. "Honestly we expected to pay more for him." Unintentionally, Ranbir made it obvious that Chhetri's value did not inflate as expected.

Northeast United FC, fronted by John Abraham, waited till the last name of the auction to make their move. They bought winger Saityasen Singh for Rs 56 lakh, significantly more than his base price of Rs 20 lakh. "We had a clear strategy and we got what we wanted," Abraham said.

The other big transactions of the auction were Rino Anto and Thoi Singh. Anto, a defender with a base price of just Rs 17.5 lakh, was bought by defending champions Atletico de Kolkata for Rs 90 lakh. Chennaiyin FC shelled out Rs 86 lakh for midfielder Thoi Singh, whose base price was Rs 39 lakh.