Abhijit Sarkar (footballer)
Abhijit Sarkar (born 5 January 2000) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for East Bengal in I-League, on loan from Chennaiyin FC. He has represented India at various youth levels, and also played for them in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Abhijit Sarkar | ||
| Date of birth | 5 January 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Kalyani, West Bengal, India | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position(s) | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Chennaiyin FC | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| AIFF Elite Academy | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2018 | Indian Arrows | 14 | (4) |
| 2018– | Chennaiyin FC | 0 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | → Indian Arrows (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2019– | → East Bengal (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2015– | India U17 | 21 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 February 2018 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 November 2017 | |||
Career
Born in Kalyani, West Bengal, Sarkar was part of the AIFF Elite Academy batch that was preparing for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup to be hosted in India.[1] After the tournament, Sarkar was selected to play for the Indian Arrows, an All India Football Federation-owned team that would consist of India under-20 players to give them playing time.[2] He made his professional debut for the side in the Arrow's first match of the season against Chennai City. He came on as a 90th-minute substitute for Jeakson Singh Thounaojam as Indian Arrows won 3–0.[3] On 10 February 2018 Sarkar came on as a substitute and scored twice in injury time to lift the arrows to a 2–1 victory over Churchill Brothers.[4] After an impressive season, he signed for Indian Super League club Chennaiyin FC for the 2018-19 season. He was loaned back to the Indian Arrows, and played 6 games in the 2018-19 season, scoring 1 goal. For the 2019-20 season, he was loaned to East Bengal.
International
Sarkar represented the India under-17 side which participated in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup which was hosted in India.[1]
Career statistics
- As of 19 July 2019[5]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Indian Arrows | 2017–18 | I-League | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 4 |
| 2018–19 | I-League | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 1 | |
| East Bengal FC (loan) | 2019–20 | I-League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| Career total | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | ||
References
- Selvaraj, Jonathan (3 October 2017). "How 14,000 became 21: The story of India's history boys". ESPN.in. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
- "Matos Names 25-member Indian Arrows Squad for Hero I-league 2017-18". The All India Football Federation. 29 November 2017. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
- "Indian Arrows 3-0 Chennai City". Soccerway.
- Nisanth V Easwar (10 February 2018). "I-League 2017-18: Indian Arrows 2-1 Churchill Brothers - Abhijit Sarkar's late brace stuns Red Machine". Goal.com. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- Abhijit Sarkar at Soccerway
First Interview of Abhijit Sarkar after joining East Bengal 2019