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Defenders
Cyril Kali
Born on the 21st of January 1984, Cyril Kali came through the famed academies of French clubs Lille and AJ Auxerre before starting his professional career with Lillestrom SK of Norway in 2006.
A versatile defensive player who primarily plays as a centre-back, Kali can play as the left back as well as the defensive midfielder.
A Nomadic Greek league footballer Kali has played for 6 Greek clubs in his 12 years as a professional footballer, Kali will be having his first stint with ISL after signing with the Kerala Blaster this year.
Sandesh Jhingan
The only player still playing in the Kerala Blasters franchise since its inception, Sandesh Jhingan was born on the 21st of July 1993 in Chandigarh and started his youth career in the St Stephan's Academy.
Jhingan started his professional career with United Sikkim spending 2 years with the club before joining Mumbai FC finally joining Kerala Blasters in 2014.
The Indian international 59 appearances to his name for the team in yellow.
Anas Edathodika
Another of the local boys in the squad, Anas Edathodika was born on the 15th of February 1987 in Malappuram. Anas started his professional footballing career with Mumbai FC in 2007 only after a successful trial with the club, being spotted by former Indian International Feroz Sherif during an inter-collegiate match.
Anas spent 4 seasons with the Mumbai club before signing up for rivals Pune FC in 2011. Another 4 seasons soon followed before the defender was on the move again joining ISL side Delhi Dynamos in 2015. 2 years with the Delhi based club ended in 2017 with Anas joining Jamshedpur FC.
The Indian international joins his state-based club Kerala Blasters in 2018 after making a total of 33 appearances in the ISL with 23 of them coming during his time with Delhi Dynamos and the rest with Jamshedpur last season.
Pritam Kumar Singh
Born in Manipur on the 10th of December 1995, Pritam Singh was a part of the AIFF Elite Academy before joining Shillong Lajong in 2015/16. The young defender spent 3 seasons with Meghalaya based club, after turning professional, before joining Kerala Blasters last season.
The young defender has just a single appearance in the ISL so far, coming on as a substitute for Rino Anto in the Match against Mumbai City FC.
Nemanja Lakic-Pesic
Born in Belgrade on the 14th of January 1991, Nemanja Lakic-Pesic started his youth career with Fudbalski club Rad before joining Donji Srem in 2009 spending 5 years with the club before moving to Radnicki Nis in 2015.
After a year with Radnicki Nis, Lakic-Pesic was on the move again joining Austrian club SV Kapfenberg in 2016 before finally joining Kerala Blasters last year.
The Serbian to-date has a total of 12 appearances in the Indian Super League so far.
Lalruatthara
One of the picks from last year edition of the ISL, Lalruathara was born on the 7th of January 1995 in Mizoram and started his youth career with Chandigarh Football Academy before joining Chanmari in 2013.
Aizwal FC was quick to notice the young versatile defender signing the youngster from Chanmari in 2015 after being on the radar since his delightful performances for Manipur in their historical Santhosh Trophy campaign in 2014.
The Indian international was a vital cog for Aizwal FC in their title-winning campaign of 2016/17, ending his connection with the North-east based club to join the Kerala Blasters in 2017.
The 23-year old has so far 17 appearances to his name in the ISL.
Mohammad Rakip
The youngest member in the defensive setup, Rakip was born on the 14th of May 2000 and was part of the historical U-17 World Cup side of India.
A product of the AIFF Elite Academy, Rakip made 6 appearances for the Indian Arrows in the 2016/17 edition of I-League before becoming the first U-17 World Cup member to sign for an ISL side as he joined Kerala Blaster at the end of 2017. The youngster is yet to make an appearance for the yellow tuskers.
