Mumbai: Legend Sachin Tendulkar picked up former Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra the Indian Super League on Thursday. Sachin is the co-owner of Kerala Blasters
Chopra is the only English player among 49 players in the international player draft.
"When the drafts came up, the first name that caught our attention was that of Chopra," Kerala Blasters' marque player and manager David James said. "We immediately decided to pick him and are happy to have him in this team."
Chopra will get $58,185 per season, with the amount announced by organizers.
The order of draft picks was decided by draw of lots, with the teams to pick strikers and goalkeepers in the first two rounds.
All the teams have the option of selecting one marquee player each two other international players outside the draft process.
The eight-team league, scheduled to be held from October-December, is being organized by IMG-Reliance in collaboration with Rupert Murdoch's Star India group.
The presence of former cricketers and Indian film stars as co-owners in the league is expected to arouse interest in this cricket-crazy country of 1.2 billion where a number of franchise leagues in other sports have mushroomed over the past few years.
Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has a stake in Atletico de Kolkata while Bollywood actors Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and John Abraham are among the other co-owners of teams in Pune, Mumbai and Shillong, respectively.
Meanwhile, organizers announced that Bangalore franchise owners Sun Group have dropped out and will be replaced with one from Chennai which will be run in collaboration with top Italian club Internazionale. The name of the team will be announced later.
