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Young Pranjal's journey from Assam to Mumbai has caught fans' attention

Young Pranjals journey from Assam to Mumbai has caught fans attention
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By

Abdul Gani

Published: 9 July 2019 4:32 AM GMT
Coming from a very humble background in Assam’s Sivasagar, a 19-year boy caught the attention of football fans across the country with a stunner in the Indian Super League (ISL) in 2018. He is Pranjal Bhumij, playing for the Mumbai City FC scored an equaliser against Kerala Blasters in the stoppage time and after that, there was no looking back. Bhumij who has also played I-League for DSK Shivajians FC is hoping to don the senior jersey soon. “I’ve already played for India in the junior category and now want to represent my country at the senior level also. I believe myself that someday I will be able to do that and for that, I have been trying my best. Maybe next year or a couple of years later I will be donning the senior jersey if the luck favours me,”
Bhumij told The Bridge. Pranjal Bhumij celebrating his goal for Mumbai City FC Bhumij, who is a product of Gauhati Town Club Academy thinks that playing with the clubs like Mumbai City FC would help him to grow in experience, which would be needed at the highest level. Apart from that, the player with the height of 5ft 4inches said that he is focusing on his strength, which is his speed.
“See, I’m not that tall, but I have the speed with me, and that’s my advantage. I will try to use it as much as I can for my progress,” added Bhumij.
He also believes that team India has gone miles with the players like Sunil Chhetri in its rank.
“I think Indian football has developed a lot with the players like Sunil Chhetri in the team who is one of the top scorers in the world. The FIFA ranking, too, has improved,”
he said. On Sunil Chhetri, he said that there’s a lot to learn from him as a youngster. “He’s a cool player. He remains cool and calm besides being a disciplined individual. And that’s the reason why he has gone that far,” Bhumij said. He also hoped that an I League team from Assam would have helped the game to move to the next level. Though clubs from Meghalaya, Manipur and Aizawl are regular at the I League, Assam has failed to form a club to reach that level.
“I think a good I-League club can help in growing football locally. If there were a team here, the local players would have gone plenty of opportunities to play and prove themselves,” Bhumij added.
Sharing his best moment during the ISL, Bhumij recalled the match against the Kerala Blasters at Kochi in 2018 when he scored the equaliser in the 93rd minute. “That’s undoubtedly the best moment of my career so far. We were lagging in an away match and almost lost the game. I came into the ground as a substitute, and my goal helped my team to earn a point which eventually opened our road to the semis. The shot was taken just from outside the box,” he said. Bhumij at training Bhumij has been with the Mumbai City FC since 2017, and he is quite enjoying his stint. “I have to say that the journey has been quite good. Initially, I have joined the club for a year contract. However, later the club extended it for three more years. So this time too I’ll play for Mumbai City FC in the forthcoming ISL. I should admit that as a footballer I’ve developed a lot after I’ve joined the club,” he added. Narrating his experience in the ISL, Bhumij said that to get the opportunity to train under two good coaches- Jorge Costa and Alexandre Guimara had a massive influence on him.
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