I am from India and to be honest, the ISL is a waste of money. Money which should have been spent at grassroots level, providing infrastructure to the local teams, improving the quality of facilities, coaches etc. Footballers in India are all on their own and after the age of 16, they give up because there is nothing to look forward to. The ones that don't have to struggle to make ends meet. There is no support. There are no physios, no dietitians, no trainers for the players in their formative years.
Instead of blowing tons of cash on former players for a 2 month season, even if they had spent 20% of that money on improving the overall structure of the sport in India, it would have done a world of good. There is unquestionable talent here, especially in the North-East and the Coastal states but sadly no one ever gives a ****. At the end of the day, the ISL will make the team owners rich and fill their coffers and those of these so called 'marquee' players. It is sad but it is true.