Abhishek Ambekar

Abhishek Ambekar (born 11 August 1991) is an Indian footballer who plays as a defender for I-League club Sreenidi Deccan.

Abhishek Ambekar
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-08-11) 11 August 1991
Place of birth Santacruz, Mumbai, India
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Left back
Team information
Current team
 Sreenidi Deccan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Air India 3 (0)
2013–2014 Mumbai Tigers 0 (0)
2014–2015 Mumbai 0 (0)
2017–2018 Minerva Punjab 16 (0)
2018–2019 Mohun Bagan 15 (0)
2019–2021 East Bengal 14 (0)
2021 Sudeva Delhi 7 (0)
2021–2022 Rajasthan United 13 (0)
2022–2023 Mohammedan 14 (0)
2023– Sreenidi Deccan 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:07, 11 March 2023 (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.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3] 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.[1][4]

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.[5] 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.[6]

" 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[1]

Career statistics

Club
As of 5 April 2023[7]
Club Season League Cup AFC Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Air India 2012–13 I-League 3000——30
Minerva Punjab 2017–18 1601[lower-alpha 1]0——170
Mohun Bagan 2018–19 15000——150
East Bengal 2019–20 I-League 1002[lower-alpha 2]0—8[lower-alpha 3]0200
2020–21 Indian Super League 4000——40
East Bengal total 140200080240
Sudeva Delhi 2020–21 I-League 7000——70
Rajasthan United 2021–22 13000——130
Mohammedan 2022–23 1407[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 1]0——210
Sreenidi Deccan 2023–24 0000——00
Career total 82010000801000
  1. Appearance(s) in Super Cup
  2. Appearance(s) in Durand Cup
  3. Appearance(s) in Calcutta Football League

Honours

Club
Minerva Punjab[8]
Mohun Bagan

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