Chennai: Nandhakumar Sekhar, the 23-year old footballer from the city has made rapid strides in Indian football emerging from the bylanes of Vyasarpadi. His journey from a humble background to playing I-league and the Indian Super League, before graduating for India Under-23s is something that gives inspiration to budding talents from the state.
Nandhakumar was a part of Chennai City FC during the 2017 I-league, he immediately caught the eye of the ISL teams and in the next season he went on a loan to Delhi Dynamos. Having impressed on the big stage again, he was then given a permanent contract of three years. Having had another successful stint, he spoke to News Today about his journey.
On being part of ISL, he said it was a dream, come true moment “My dream was to play for ISL and the journey from I-league to ISL has been good. Some year ago, when I was not even part of the I-League, I didn’t even get tickets to watch ISL. So from there to play in ISL is a dream-come-true moment. I did a lot of hardwork and being part of ISL is a result of that.”
Nandhakumar was quick to credit that ISL has helped him learn a lot and become a better footballer. “I have learnt a lot in terms of nutrition and discipline. I also learn some key workouts from Spanish players to make the body fit. ISL is providing me a great opportunity to learn which helps to shape my career.”
Hailing from a locality like Vyasarpadi, which has a lot of football fans, Nanda Kumar admits that growing up in that surrounding helped him ignite the passion to become a professional footballer. “There are lot of footballers there (Vyasarpadi) and by growing up in that environment I also wanted to be a footballer professionally. I took it up seriously and worked towards it only after graduating from college,” he says. “There are lot of passionate and talented footballers in the area and I would like to help them to carve a successful career in the sport,” he adds.
Nandha Kumar also congratulates his former club Chennai City FC on winning the I-League this year. “They have done a great job. There are 7 to 8 players in the side now, who are all from Tamilnadu and to be able to win the I-league with them is a big achievement for CCFC. Most of them have also made their debut only in the last season so I am really happy for their success.” Asked about his goals, he says “My goal is to play for Indian team and also play for a club in Europe.”