kolkata proclaimed a gamechanger and perhaps the most starstudded event ever in the history of indian football featuring retired giants of the game the isl will kick off here on sunday aiming to give a fresh lease of life to the global sport in a country which has been called a sleeping giant by fifa ranked 158th in the world indian football is not exactly in the pink of health but with a bit of help from former world cup winners some big bollywood stars and a dash of cricket to it the indian super league would be looking to draw the fans and raise the profile of the beautiful game in a nation obsessed with cricket the tournament features five world cup winners and brazilian legend zico as coach and that has been the one big factor in generating the buzz around the glitzy league all the marquee players are past their prime and are discards of european leagues david james of kerala blasters is the oldest at 44 but the event has generated worldwide attention add to this the host of bollywood celebrities indian cricketers including the iconic sachin tendulkar and business magnates who have coowned various teams and it appears to have all the ingredients needed for a blockbuster recipe there are however detractors who have questioned how the indian footballers will benefit from the 10week league which has a sixfive foreignersdomestic ratio and whether the new teams will able to gain fan bases like the traditional powerhouses east bengal mohun bagan or the goan and northeast clubs a grand bollywoodstyle opening ceremony is planned ahead of the inaugural matchup between city franchise atletico de kolkata and mumbai city fc the league will then spread to seven other centers of guwahati kochi fatorda pune chennai mumbai and delhi before the final on december 20 on paper the ranbir kapoor coowned mumbai city fc appear to be the heavyweights with the mercurial frenchman nicolas anelka and swede fredrik ljungberg along with acclaimed domestic players like india no 1 goalkeeper subrata pal experienced sideback syed rahim nabi and the spirited medio lalrindika ralte mumbai city fc have some english flavour in the coaching staff with former manchester city and sunderland manager peter reid and his deputy stee darby relatively known figure in domestic football but not always the right high profile players make a good team and this is where the stout reid will chip in to make this a perfect unit both anelka who was handed a fivematch ban by the football association after the 35yearold made the controversial quenelle gesture in december while playing for west bromwich albion in the english premier league is set to miss the opening tie ljungberg will also be warming the benches as he is recovering from a calfmuscle injury the duos likely absence will give atletico de kolkata a definite advantage but only time would say how the side with a distinctive spanish flavour would do in