| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nikhil Chandra Shekhar Poojary[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 3 September 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Mangaluru, Karnataka | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Right-back, winger | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Bengaluru | |||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 27 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Ryan FC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dodsal | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Mumbai | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | East Bengal | |||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | East Bengal | 14 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Pune City | 9 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2024 | Hyderabad | 79 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Bengaluru | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | India U23 | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2017– | India | 25 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:43, 7 February 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:00, 13 January 2024 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nikhil Chandra Shekhar Poojary (born 3 September 1995) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a right-back or winger for Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the India national team.
Club career
Born in Mangalore, Karnataka to a Tulu speaking Billava family, Poojary started his career with Ryan FC in Mumbai.[2] While with Ryan FC, Poojary was selected to play for the Maharashtra under-19 side in the school games nationals.[3] Poojary soon joined the youth side of Mumbai before signing with Kolkata giants East Bengal in 2015.
Poojary made his first-team debut for East Bengal on 4 August 2016 in their opening Calcutta Football League fixture against Bhawanipore. He came on as a 78th minute substitute for Jiten Murmu as East Bengal won 2–1.[4] Poojary scored his first goal for the club on 23 September 2016 during the group stage match of the Bordoloi Trophy against Bongobi Agragami of Bangladesh. His strike in the 87th minute was the last goal in a 6–0 victory.[5]
International career
He scored his first international goal against Maldives in the 2018 SAFF Championship.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 21 March 2024[6]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | AFC | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| East Bengal | 2016–17 | I-League | 14 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | — | 6[b] | 1[c] | 22 | 1 | |
| 2017–18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[d] | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Total | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 24 | 2 | ||
| Pune City | 2018–19 | Indian Super League | 9 | 1 | 2[e] | 0 | — | — | 11 | 1 | ||
| Hyderabad | 2019–20 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | |||
| 2020–21 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 1 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 21 | 0 | 7[f] | 0 | — | — | 29 | 0 | ||||
| 2023–24 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 79 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 1 | ||
| Bengaluru | 2023–24 | Indian Super League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 109 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 128 | 3 | ||
- ^ Appearances in Federation Cup
- ^ 4 Appearances in Calcutta Football League and 2 Appearances in Bordoloi Trophy
- ^ Goal in Calcutta Football League
- ^ Appearances in Calcutta Football League
- ^ Appearances in Super Cup
- ^ 5 Appearances in Durand Cup and 2 Appearances in Super Cup
International
- As of 13 January 2024[7]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 2017 | 2 | 0 |
| 2018 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 22 | 1 | |
International goals
- Scores and results list India's goal tally first
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 September 2018 | Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh | 4 |  Maldives |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2018 SAFF Championship | [8] |
Honours
India
Hyderabad
References
- ^ "Igor Stimac names 35 probables for India's FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Afghanistan". sportstar.thehindu.com. Sportstar. 7 March 2024. Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
- ^ Nayak, BB (26 June 2011). "CITY-BASED RYAN FOOTBALL CLUB SCORES 2-0, QUALIFIES FOR MDFA SUPER DIVISION". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ Nayak, BB (20 November 2011). "ICLES' MAKES IT TO STATE, TWO NM PLAYERS PICKED FOR NAT'LS". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ Majumdar, Debabrata (4 August 2016). "East Bengal beat Bhawanipore to start Calcutta Football League campaign". The Home of Indian Football Live. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ "East Bengal triumph". telegraphindia.com. Guwahati: The Telegraph India. 24 September 2016. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ Nikhil Poojary at Soccerway
- ^ Nikhil Poojary at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ "India 2–0 Maldives". Soccerway. 9 September 2018. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ "Laxmikanth Kattimani the hero as Hyderabad FC beat Kerala Blasters FC on penalties to win first Hero ISL title". Indian Super League. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
External links
- Nikhil Poojary at Soccerway
- East Bengal profile
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This page was last edited on 26 March 2024, at 16:29