Sandesh Jhingan
Sandesh Jhingan is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Indian Super League club Goa and the India national team.
He won the AIFF emerging player of the year award in 2014 and made his debut for the India national side in 2015. In 2020, Jhingan was honoured with the Arjuna Award, the second-highest sporting honour of India. He is also the recipient of the 2020–21 AIFF Men's Player of the Year Award.
Club career
Early career: 2011–14
Born in Chandigarh, Jhingan received his football training at the St Stephen's Academy. While with the academy, Jhingan helped the side reach the South-East Asian finals of the Manchester United Premier Cup. He also represented the Chandigarh state team at the under-19 level, helping them win the B.C. Roy Trophy.After impressive performances for his state side and academy team, Jhingan received a call-up to attend trials at I-League 2 side United Sikkim in November 2011. The trials were successful and he signed for the club the next month. Playing alongside former India internationals, Bhaichung Bhutia and Renedy Singh, Jhingan helped United Sikkim earn promotion to the I-League after the 2012 season.
In a June 2020 interview, Jhingan said that he was rejected by many second and third division clubs in Kolkata. He said, "It was during the starting phase of my career. Back then I was looking for clubs and I appeared for quite a few trials at a number of clubs in Kolkata — even in the second and third divisions. But I was rejected by all."
Jhingan made his senior professional debut in the I-League on 6 October 2012 in United Sikkim's first match of the season against Salgaocar. Jhingan started the match and lasted the whole ninety minutes and scored the winning goal for United Sikkim as they won 3–2. He then scored his second goal for the club on 18 November 2012 against Sporting Goa. His goal was the only one for United Sikkim as they lost 2–1. Despite United Sikkim suffering from relegation at the end of the season and conceding a league high 63 goals, Jhingan was noticed to be a bright talent from the team. In February 2013 it was reported that Jhingan was receiving interest from Chinese League One clubs, and that he would head to China for trials. However, selection into the India national team meant that Jhingan could not attend trials.
After the 2012–13 season, Jhingan signed a contract with Indian Super League to eventually be part of the competition which was to start in 2014. Despite struggling to sign a contract with an I-League club before the ISL began, Jhingan did reject an offer from Dempo. "Dempo is a big club and to receive an offer from them in itself was a big thing for me. There is no doubt that being associated with the club and playing under coach Arthur Papas would have benefitted me as a player. However, I don't regret my decision," Jhingan said in an interview. In November 2013 it was reported that Jhingan had signed with Rangdajied United on loan for the remainder of the season. However, not long after, it was announced that Jhingan had instead signed for Mumbai for the rest of the I-League campaign. He made his debut for the club on 7 December 2013 against Pune. Jhingan started the match and played for the whole match as Mumbai won 2–1.
A few weeks later, on 15 December, Jhingan received a red card for a second yellow offense in a match against Rangdajied United. Despite being ejected, Mumbai still drew the match 1–1.
Kerala Blasters: 2014–2020
2014: Emerging Player of the Season
On 22 July 2014, a day after his 21st birthday, Jhingan was selected in the second round of the 2014 ISL Inaugural Domestic Draft by the Kerala Blasters. He appeared on the bench for the side in their opening match of the season against NorthEast United. Despite not playing in the first match, Jhingan did start for the Blasters in their second match of the season against Chennaiyin. He started the match and put in a good performance but could not prevent the Kerala Blasters from losing 2–1. From that point Jhingan remained a constant presence for the Kerala Blasters throughout the 2014 season, appearing 14 times for the side. His performance for the Kerala Blasters helped earn Jhingan the "Emerging Player of the League" award.On 20 December 2014, Jhingan started for the Kerala Blasters in the 2014 Indian Super League final against Atlético de Kolkata. Despite putting in a valiant performance, Jhingan could not prevent Atlético de Kolkata from taking the title as the Kerala Blasters fell 1–0.
2015
Loan to Sporting GoaOn 8 February 2015, after the 2014 ISL season, Jhingan signed with Sporting Goa on loan for the 2014–15 I-League. He made his debut for the club on the same day against Mumbai. He started and played the full match as Sporting and Mumbai drew 0–0.
2015 ISL Season
After the conclusion of the season, Jhingan was retained by the Kerala Blasters for the 2015 season and in the process became the highest paid Indian player in the league, earning more than 10 million. Despite his performances from last season, which also earned Jhingan interest from abroad, he was not able to replicate the same quality in 2015. Despite being partnered at times with former Spanish international Carlos Marchena and former Newcastle United defender Peter Ramage, Jhingan and the Blasters conceded a league worst 27 goals and finished last in the table.
2016
Loan to DSK ShivajiansOn 4 March 2016, after the 2015 ISL season, it was announced that Jhingan would join I-League side DSK Shivajians on loan from the Kerala Blasters. He made his debut for the side two days later on 6 March against East Bengal. He started the match and played the full ninety minutes as DSK Shivajians won the match 2–0.
2016 ISL season
Because of his solid performance at the defence and due to immense pressure from fans, Jhingan was once again retained in the draft by the Kerala Blasters for the 2016 season. In the first match of the season, Jhingan was placed at right-back as the center of defense was taken up by Aaron Hughes and Cédric Hengbart. Kerala Blasters lost the match 1–0. The next match saw Jhingan return to his preferred center back role after Hughes left for FIFA World Cup qualification. The result did not improve as the Kerala Blasters were defeated 1–0 by Atlético de Kolkata. For the rest of the season, after Hughes returned, Jhingan stayed primarily as a right-back, earning praise for his performances which helped the Blasters to reach their second Indian Super League final in three seasons.Loan to Bengaluru
On 12 January 2017, another I-League club, Bengaluru, announced the signing of Jhingan on a season long loan deal from the Kerala Blasters. He made his debut for the club six days later in a league match against Mumbai as a 71st-minute substitute for Harmanjot Khabra as Bengaluru won 3–0. Jhingan started his first match on 11 February 2017 against Minerva Punjab in a 1–1 draw.On 14 March 2017, Jhingan played in his first career club continental match when he started for Bengaluru in an AFC Cup match against fellow Indian side Mohun Bagan. He scored the equalizing goal for Bengaluru, his first for the club, in the 51st minute to tie the score at 1–1 before Sunil Chhetri scored the winner for the club six minutes later as the club achieved a 2–1 victory. He scored his second goal for the club, and only goal in the league, on 22 April 2017 against his former club DSK Shivajians. His 90th-minute goal was the last in a 7–0 rout by Bengaluru.
On 21 May 2017, Jhingan was part of the squad that helped Bengaluru FC win the 2016–17 Federation Cup, beating Mohun Bagan 2–0 in the final as Jhingan won his first top tier piece of silverware.
2017–18 ISL: Assuming captaincy and final years at the Blasters
On 8 July 2017, it was announced that Jhingan has been retained by the Blasters for the 2017–18 season after he signed a long-term contract that made him the highest paid defender in the Indian Super League. Jhingan was one of three Indian players retained by the Kerala Blasters, the others being C.K. Vineeth and Prasanth Karuthadathkuni, and the deal he signed reportedly kept him at the club until 2020, paying him ₹38 million.On 16 November 2017, a day before the Kerala Blasters' first match of the season against ATK, Jhingan was announced as the captain of the Blasters for the upcoming season.
He continued as the captain in the following 2018–19 season. Before the beginning of the 2019–20 season, he was ruled out for the entire season due to ACL injury.
On 21 May 2020, Kerala Blasters announced they have parted ways with Jhingan on mutual consent. When we parted ways, it was mutual and it was a mature decision from both ends. If my decision to leave Kerala was about money, I would have done that long ago when I had much-better offers. I remained loyal because I loved the project, the club and the fans. I’ve given my all to the club. I’ve played with stitches, concussions and muscle problems. Kerala Blasters will always remain a part of me. Nobody can take that away. Jhingan said about his decision of leaving the Blasters.
As a tribute to his contributions to the club, Blasters permanently retired his jersey number 21. But the Blasters later brought back the jersey in April 2022 after Jhingan was involved in a [|controversy] by making a sexist comment after a match against the Blasters during his second tenure at ATK Mohun Bagan.