Vinit Rai

Vinit Rai Chamling (born 10 October 1997) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Odisha FC in the Indian Super League and the Indian football team.

Vinit Rai
Personal information
Full name Vinit Rai Chamling
Date of birth (1997-10-10) 10 October 1997
Place of birth Duliajan, Assam, India
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Central midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Odisha
Number 16
Youth career
2010–2014 Tata Football Academy
2014 Dempo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Dempo 2 (0)
2016 Kerala Blasters 2 (0)
2017 → Minerva Punjab (loan) 4 (0)
2017– Odisha 54 (1)
National team‡
2015– India U23 7 (0)
2018– India 11 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:12, 18 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:10, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Career

Born in Duliajan, Assam, Rai was scouted by the Duliajan Football Academy and later by the Tata Football Academy at the age of 13 and trained there for four years.[1] After graduating from Tata, Rai signed with I-League side Dempo. On signing Rai, Dempo head coach at the time, Arthur Papas said "Vinit is a very cultured midfielder with a great range of passing. He has a willingness to always want the ball and link the play between the defensive and forward lines."[2] Rai would enter the 2014–15 season with Dempo as the youngest first-team player.[2] After spending a majority of the season playing for the club's youth team, Rai made his professional debut for Dempo in the league on 1 March 2015 against East Bengal. He came on as an 81st-minute substitute for Jewel Raja as Dempo lost 5–1.[3]

Kerala Blasters

After helping Dempo regain promotion to the I-League, Rai signed with Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters on 6 September 2016.[1] He made his debut for the team on 1 October 2016 against NorthEast United. He started the match and played 76 minutes as Kerala Blasters fell 1–0.[4]

Minerva Punjab

After the ISL 2016 season, Vinit Rai signed with Minerva FC and will make its debut in I-league this season.[5]

Odisha FC

Rai joined Odisha FC for the 2019–20 ISL season as a midfielder.[6]

International

Rai made his debut for the India under-23 side on 27 March 2015 against Uzbekistan U23 in the 2016 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers. He played 80 minutes as India U23 fell 2–0.[7] Almost a year later, Rai made his debut on the bench for the India senior side in their FIFA World Cup qualifier against Iran. He did not come off the bench though.[8] Rai, however, did make his unofficial debut for India in the team's unofficial friendly against Bhutan. He came on as a 64th minute for Rowllin Borges as India won 3–0.[9]

Career statistics
As of 30 June 2019[10]
Club Season League Federation Cup/Super Cup Durand Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dempo 2014–15 I-League20——————20
Kerala Blasters 2016 Indian Super League2000————20
Minerva Punjab (loan) 2016–17 I-League4000————40
Delhi Dynamos 2017–18 Indian Super League13010——00140
2018–19 16010——00170
Odisha 2019–20 Indian Super League4000——0040
Career total 410200000430

References
  1. "Kerala Blasters sign Vinit Rai". Arunfoot. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  2. "Young Players to watch out for in Dempo". The All India Football Federation. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  3. "Dempo 1-5 East Bengal". Soccerway.
  4. "NorthEast United 1-0 Kerala Blasters". Soccerway.
  5. "Vinit Rai to play is trade for Minerva FC". Goalie365.
  6. "Vinit Rai-profile". indiansuperleague.com. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  7. "Uzbekistan U23 2-0 India U23". The Asian Football Confederation.
  8. "Iran 4-0 India". Soccerway.
  9. "Bhutan 0-3 India". Soccerway.
  10. Vinit Rai at Soccerway
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.