ISL: Clubs ranking by the playing time allocated to U21 players.

The Indian Super League stands as the top-tier football league in India, providing valuable playing opportunities for both Indian international players and seasoned foreign players. However, the fundamental objective of any football league is to cultivate high-caliber players for their respective national teams.

This objective is achieved by affording the emerging talents of a nation the necessary exposure to compete against the best players, thereby fostering their growth and development in the sport.

Today, The Bridge is taking a look at the time which Indian U21 players of all club has spent on the field in this season of ISL:

Kerala Blasters FC - 1894 minutes (37 appearances)

Kerala Blasters has offered a most amount of time to their youth players among all clubs of ISL this season so far. They has given 4 U21 players a chance to play and three of them, Azhar, Aimen and Vibin has grabbed that opportunity and become a regular part of the starting line-up.

Vibin Mohanan- 750 minutes in 11 appearances

Mohammed Aimen- 682 minutes in 13 appearances

Mohammed Azhar- 370 minutes in 8 appearances

Freddy Lallawmawma- 92 minutes in 5 appearances

NorthEast United FC - 1362 minutes (26 appearances)

NorthEast United FC is always known for their young talents and this season is no less, they offered almost 22 hours of gameplay to their young bloods. The biggest name who risen up this season for them is Parthib Gogoi, who is an important member of NorthEast's attacking prowess.

Parthib Gogoi- 763 minutes in 10 appearances

Macarton Louis Nickson- 342 minutes in 6 appearances

Thoi Singh- 123 minutes in 5 appearances

Bekey Oram- 134 minutes in 4 appearances

Jamshedpur FC - 1340 minutes (27 appearances)

Jamshedpur FC has given the time to the young players in the forward line which many clubs are scared of in such a competitive league. Nikhil Barla is a key man up forward in their starting line up while Sanan has proved to be a super-sub for them.

Nikhil Barla- 741 minutes in 13 appearances.

Sanan Mohammed K - 488 minutes in 12 appearances.

Vishal Yadav- 111 minutes in 2 appearances.

Punjab FC - 1115 minutes (16 appearances)

Punjab FC is a newly promoted club to this season of ISL but and have placed full trust on their Indian players especially youngsters like Nitesh Darjee who has played full 90 minutes in all of his 8 appearances for the club.

Nitesh Darjee- 720 minutes in 8 appearances

Tekcham Abhishek Singh- 284 minutes in 5 appearances

Manglenthang Kipgen- 109 minutes in 2 appearances

Ricky John Shabong- 2 minutes in 1 appearance

Chennaiyin FC - 992 minutes (1 appearance)

Two time former champions, Chennaiyin has given a permanent role to the 20-year old defender Bikash Yumnam. He has been a key man in the defence for the team in all 12 matches of the season.

Bikash Yumnam- 992 minutes in 12 appearances

Bengaluru FC - 984 minutes (28 appearances)

The Bangalore based side led by Indian captain Sunil Chhetri is been struggling for form this season, hence they have been trying many youngsters to find a balanced line-up for at least making it to the top six in the league table.

Harsh Patre- 524 minutes in 11 appearances

Rohit Danu- 187 minutes in 7 appearances

Monirul Molla- 101 minutes in 5 appearances

Lalremtluanga F- 95 minutes in 2 appearances

Chingambam Shivaldo Singh- 77 minutes in 3 appearances

Hyderabad FC 851 minutes (15 appearance)

Hyderabad FC has been struggling with both on the field and off-field issues with most of their players left mid-way, they are just trying to survive this season using different young players in almost every match.

Mark Zothanpuia- 620 minutes in 9 appearances

Lalchhanhima Sailo- 90 minutes in 1 appearance

Sajad Hussain Parray- 90 minutes in 1 appearance

Joseph Sunny- 20 minutes in 1 appearance

Abhijith PA 20 minutes in 1 appearance

Aron Vanlalrinchhana- 10 minutes in 1 appearance

Amon Lepcha- 1 minute in 1 appearance

Mohun Bagan Super Giants - 303 minutes (15 appearances)

Mohun Bagan has a star-studded squad with experienced Indian players and high profile foreign signings but youngsters like Hnamte helps them in the defence in the absence of their star defender Anwar Ali.

Lalrinliana Hnamte- 137 minutes in 6 appearances

Amandeep- 76 minutes in 1 appearance

Suhail Ahmad Bhat- 63 minutes in 6 appearances

Ravi Rana- 27 minutes in 2 appearances

Mumbai City FC- 199 minutes (8 appearances)

Mumbai City FC has been struggling to find a good finisher upfront after a bad run of form from their forward Pereyra Diaz, now they are using Gurkirat Singh and Ayush Chhikara in their attack line from time to time.

Ayush Chhikara- 103 minutes in 2 appearances

Gurkirat Singh- 53 minutes in 3 appearances

Franklin Robin Nazareth- 33 minutes in 3 appearances

FC Goa - 118 minutes (8 appearances)

FC Goa is currently leading the league table with their unbeaten run and doesn't want to make many changes in the settled line-up and are not relying much on their young players.

Ayush Dev Chhetri- 90 minutes in 4 appearances

Muhammad Nemil- 28 minutes in 4 appearances

East Bengal FC 45 minutes (1 appearance)

East Bengal hasn't used any U21 player so far since the last match where Sayan Banerjee makes his ISL debut after he helps the team in the final of Super cup in winning a title after 12 years of wait.

Sayan Banerjee- 45 minutes in 1 appearance

Odisha FC - 33 minutes (4 appearances)

Odisha FC has used many young players this season but most of them are in the range of 22 to 25 years. Thoiba Moirangthem who was a key member of team's midfield in the last season is not getting much game this season.

Moirangthem Thoiba- 25 minutes in 3 appearances

Ashangbam Aphaoba Singh- 8 minutes in 1 appearance

(Data collected from Transfermarket & ISL website)