FIFA Mobile: Jackichand Singh becomes first Indian to have 80+ pace rating

Jackichand Singh has been touted as the rising star of Indian football

What's the story?

Star Indian national team forward Jackichand Singh has become the first Indian to receive a pace rating over the 80-point mark in any edition of the FIFA series. The striker reaches this landmark ahead of much-renowned teammates like Sunil Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua on FIFA Mobile.

In case you didn't know...

The Indian national football team has been included in all editions after 2014 due to the immense popular demand for football in the country. The Blue Tigers on FIFA have not yet seen their overall rating cross the 70-point mark and the nation of a 1.6 billion people is still a one-star team on FIFA.

FIFA Mobile is an offering of EA Sports but it is a mobile-only video game. Player ratings are updated frequently and every new update brings about better graphics and updated player ratings. With the game's size less than 100 MB, FIFA Mobile has become hugely popular among football fans with over 50 million downloads on android devices.

Progress is being made with the development of football in the country and it is evident with the rumoured inclusion of the Indian Super League in the upcoming EA Sports instalment, FIFA 18.

The heart of the matter

Jackichand has been preceded by highly recognised Indian footballers like Chhetri and Jeje but with the latest FIFA Mobile update, he became the first Indian player ever to have breached the 80-mark when it comes to pace ratings.

The striker is one of the fastest players in the national side on the game with his pace rated at a level of 83. This rating is considerably higher than the next best player, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, who has a pace rating of 78.

What's next?

Further analysis reveals that Jackichand Singh is the only top level Indian player on FIFA Mobile to have any attribute over the 80-point mark. No one from the ranks of known Indian players like Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri and Lalrindika Ralte have crossed the mark.

Even Gurupreet Singh Sandhu, the goalkeeper who famously became the first Indian to ply his trade in a first division team in Europe with Norwegian side Staebaek does not have any attribute over 80.

Author's take

While the above statistics are a damning indictment of Indian football, the positive side is that the signs of progress are present. Nobody had ever crossed the 80-point barrier in the history of the Blue Tigers on FIFA (console and mobile) but Jackichand's achievement is a step in the right direction. With football gaining a massive fan base in the country and an ever larger number of youth taking it up as a sport, expect Indian footballers to start regularly crossing the 80 mark on FIFA soon.