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Defenders
Rahul Bheke
You can ask why he is not there with the national side that will be playing Asian Cup next month.
Being the best right-back of the country, Rahul Bheke should have been there. But being the victim of another farce selection policy, Bheke will be watching the national team on TV.
Let alone the Asian Cup, Bheke hasn’t been called in the national team so far. Considering his current, it’s the weirdest decision so far by the national team coach. Perhaps that will make Bheke hungrier for success.
Bheke has stamped his name on the Bengaluru FC team this year. After honing his skills with East Bengal and two brief stints with ISL clubs Kerala Blasters FC and FC Pune City, Bheke joined Bengaluru last season and made an instant impact.
More than his defensive duties, he can make good overlaps and can score goals on crucial moments.
John Johnson
After plying his trade with Bengaluru FC for six years, Johnson switched his allegiance to ATK this season for new challenges. Though he struggled to keep things going initially, he is now the most trusted player of the team.
ATK coach Steve Coppell shuffled his centre-backs at the start of the season. Sometimes he played Gerson Viera or sometimes Andre Bikey took the field. But there was no change in one position, that was of Johnson.
Having played every minute for ATK this season, Johnson made defending look so easy. ATK are standing second in terms of conceding the least amount of goals and credit goes to Johnson for that.
Standing tall at the heart of the defence, Johnson made 90 clearances for ATK.
Before the switchover, he also played a crucial part for Bengaluru, helping the team to reach ISL final and won Super Cup title.
Lucian Goian
Mumbai City FC are in the second in the ISL table. One of reasons for their success is their solid defending, led by veteran Romanian Lucian Goian.
A few days ago, Mumbai City FC held Bengaluru FC 1-1 even after going down to 10-men. The player who kept the Bengaluru players quiet was Goian.
He rescued Mumbai on many occasions. His height, technical ability and experience make him one of the easy choices for this team.
Arijit Bagui
One of the two I-League to make their way into this squad, Arijit Bagui had a fabulous year in terms of his performance. Replacing Abhishek Das as a right-back, he has earned the trust from coach Sankarlal Chakroborty.
It is never easy to score goals avoiding the pint-sized defender. Bagui has the ability to make good tackles and has the pace to outrun his opponent.
His crosses are lethal and so far, Bagui provided plenty of crosses which were converted to goals. His crossed are pin-point and can avoid his marker too.
