"ISL has played a huge part in Indian national football team's giant leap" - Rohit Sharma

Indian men's cricket team captain Rohit Sharma lauded the strenuous efforts of the Indian Super League (ISL) for the transformation of Indian football team.

The ISL started in 2014 and has now completed nine seasons, emerging as the top-tier football tournament in India. Speaking at an event to promote the La Liga EA Sports season, Rohit Sharma noted that ISL took giant strides in providing exposure to youngsters. He said:

"They (Indian football team) have taken a giant leap in where they are at this moment. The ISL has played a huge part in that. The most important thing is for people to get exposure."

He added:

"Even for us in cricket, when the emergence of IPL happened, a lot of our local players got exposure playing with international stars. That is what the leagues in India are doing."

"Would love for them to play against one of the top European teams" - Rohit Sharma

The Indian men's football team won back-to-back titles on home soil this year. The Sunil Chhetri-led side bagged the Intercontinental Cup by defeating Lebanon 2-0 in the final in June.

India extended its dominance in the SAFF Championship by winning their ninth title after overcoming heavyweights Kuwait 5-4 in the penalties on July 4.

Talking about how Indian football can grow beyond this point, Rohit said that they should play against the best teams in Europe to get better exposure, saying:

"I would love for them to play against one of the top European teams and go neck-to-neck. Whenever I see them play, they look quite confident."

He continued:

"Definitely, they have got a lot of skills as well. It is just about exposure. The more and more exposure they get by playing in Europe and other parts of the world, they are only going to get better."

The Indian national football team will next feature in the King's Cup in Thailand before they participate in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September-October period.