Locals and franchises both will benefit from foreigners' presence: Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly believes the ISL will benefit from the presence of foreigners

Kolkata, Sep 22 (IANS) Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly Monday said the Indian Super League side Atletico de Kolkata - co-owned by him - would benefit from the presence of eight foreigners in the squad and hoped the team would become a crowd-puller like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.

Referring to the latest city derby last month, when the two teams attracted a crowd of one lakh people at the Salt Lake stadium, Ganguly said: "I hope there will be a similar turnout on Oct 12."

Atletico de Kolkata will take on Mumbai City FC in the opening game of the inaugural ISL at the same venue Oct 12.

Ganguly said the team now has 22 players, of whom 14 are Indians.

"The presence of foreign players will inspire the local players to raise their levels. The game's standard will also go up," he said.

The football team is currently training at the Los Angeles De San Rafael training ground in Segovia, Spain.