Gurjinder looks forward to a great ISL season

Deepankar Sharda 

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 6

When he was nine, Gurjinder Kumar used to play football at his hometown Banga in Nawanshahr district. It was the dream of his elder brother, a district-level player, that Gurjinder plays for the JCT club, Punjab, and then for India.

However, when his brother-cum-coach died in 2000, the 10-year-old had nowhere to go. He started losing interest in football, but luckily, he managed to get enrolled in the first batch of the Chandigarh Football Academy in 2001. Since then Kumar has not looked back. He has played for India U-23 and then India. In the I-League, Kumar signed his first professional contract with Pune FC- in 2010. Kumar signed for Salgaocar for the 2014-15 I-League and made his debut in the Federation Cup in 2015.

On Monday, Kumar made his debut for FC Pune City against Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League (ISL). Fifteen years after his brother died, the journey seems unreal to Kumar. The 24-year-old, who started his journey from a small town, is rubbing shoulders with the international players of the ISL. Back then he had no lofty aim, his only dream was to wear jersey 

No. 5 for JCT, once his brother's dream. 

Coach Harjinder Singh trained him at the Chandigarh Football Academy for six years and the lad was sent to the Tata Football Academy (2007-10) to further hone his skills for three years. After nine years of training, Kumar was getting ready for the trials for JCT club but the Pune FC academy snared him. Soon, his hard work bore fruit as Pune FC named him the Best Player in the Under-23 category (2010-11). Next year, a left-foot stunner in the final of the club’s talent hunt tournament bagged him the Goal of the Year award. One year later, he was adjudged as the Ashok Piramal Group Young Player of the Year. 

The last three years have been phenomenal for him. Right from childhood, he had nurtured the dream of playing for JCT and settling in Punjab but with the club shutting shop, the dream was killed. “It was a big jolt but I am lucky to get a good platform in Pune FC. Hopefully, my maiden ISL appearance would give me more chances in the future,” said Kumar. The Pune FC has now promoted Kumar to the FC Pune City in the ISL franchisee. “My brother left me early, but I believe his blessings are always with me. Had he been alive, it would have been my greatest day,” he said about his debut.