Abhishek Ambekar

Abhishek Ambekar (born 11 August 1991) is an Indian footballer who currently plays as a Wing back for East Bengal in the Indian Super League.

Abhishek Ambekar
Personal information
Full name Abhishek Ambekar
Date of birth (1991-08-11) 11 August 1991[1]
Place of birth Santacruz, Mumbai, India
Position(s) winger/wingback
Club information
Current team
 East Bengal
Number 27
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Air India 3 (0)
2013–2014 Mumbai Tigers 0 (0)
2014–2015 Mumbai FC 0 (0)
2017–2018 Minerva Punjab 17 (0)
2018–2019 Mohun Bagan 15 (0)
2019–2021 East Bengal 22 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:51, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

Career

Early career

He began playing football in school, Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School, Thane and represented his school team and his college and state team later. He was roped into the Air India FC under-19 team, coached by former Indian player Godfrey Pereira, who is also from Santacruz.[2]

Air India

The winger eventually graduated to Air India's senior team. Ambekar made his debut for Air India FC of the I-League on 7 October 2012 coming on as a 54th-minute substitute for Ong Lepcha; Air India lost 5–1.[3]

Career pitfalls

Air India FC couldn't play in the I-League further as it didn't satisfy the Asian Football Confederation norms, according to the All India Football Federation. But this didn't hinder Ambekar's career as he joined the newly-floated Mumbai Tigers, which had players like Steven Dias, Paresh Shivalkar under coach Bimal Ghosh, who helped Ambekar improve his game. But the club also couldn't survive for long. He joined Mumbai FC and later got a job with the Reserve Bank of India.[4] The job rules didn't allow him to play at the professional level but he preferred RBI as it offered job security. During that time he played for Maharashtra in Santosh Trophy.[2][5]

Later Ambekar was handed a lifeline by RBI, who agreed to release players and encouraged sportspersons to continue playing. It was what he had been waiting for. At the cost of risking his progress at work, Ambekar started sniffing at opportunities to play in the big leagues again. That chance came at fledgling side Minerva, who had finished 9th of 10 teams on their I-League debut last season.

Minerva Punjab

In 2017 he joined Minerva Punjab. He made his debut for Minerva on 25 November 2017 in I-League match against Mohun Bagan at Guru Nanak Stadium, Ludhiana as he played full match and his team drew the match 1-1.[6] He became an inevitable ingredient of the side which eventually won the silverware. The I-League title triumph gave Ambekar's CV a necessary kick which was missing earlier in his career.[7]

" It was a great experience playing for Minerva and we ended up winning the title after a hard fought season. It was the pre-season practice and team bonding that finally led Minerva to victory. It really boosted our careers"

—Ambekar on winning I-League[2]

Career statistics

Club

Statistics accurate as of 3 November 2020[8]

Club Season Division League Cup AFC Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Air India 2012–13 I-League3000————30
Minerva Punjab 2017–18 16010————170
Mohun Bagan[9] 2018–19 15000————150
East Bengal 2019–20 1002[lower-alpha 1]0——8[lower-alpha 2]—200
2020–21 Indian Super League4000————40
Career total 480300080590
  1. Appearances in Durand Cup
  2. Appearances in Calcutta Premier Division

Honours

Club
Minerva Punjab[10]
Mohun Bagan

References
  1. "Abhishek Ambekar". I-League. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  2. "Abhishek Ambekar excited to be playing in Kolkata". Theasianage.
  3. "Prayag United 5-1 Air India: Ranti Martins' hat-trick grounds the Airmen". Goal.com. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  4. "Unrest & rewards". mumbaimirror.
  5. "MAHARASHTRA KEEP SEMIS-HOPE ALIVE AFTER A NARROW WIN OVER PUNJAB". theaiff.com.
  6. "Minerva 1-1 Mohun Bagan". soccerway. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  7. "I-League 2017-18: Minerva Punjab possess right kind of balance to become champions". Firstpost. 28 January 2018.
  8. Abhishek Ambekar at Soccerway
  9. "I-League 2018: Mohun Bagan name Henry Kisekka, Abhishek Ambekar in squad, Akram Moghrabi and Cameron Watson left out". sportskeeda. 2 May 2018.
  10. "Minerva Punjab crowned I-League champions". Rediff. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  11. "Mohun Bagan Win Calcutta Football League After Eight Years". sports.ndtv.com. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
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