Indian football’s latest sensation, Sandesh Jhingan, has amassed eight appearances for the Kerala Blasters in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) helping his team maintain six clean sheets. He has been one of the standout performers not just for his team but in the entire tournament. A central defender by trade, the versatile Punjabi has been played all across the Kerala back line, and has slotted into the unfamiliar positions of right back and left back with ease when required.The 21-year-old defender’s mature performances have led him to being labelled as one of the most promising upcoming Indian footballers at the ISL. In fact, most recently, he was voted by fans as the ‘Player of the Week’ for the week of November 10 – 16. Jhingan was the runaway winner in the poll, bagging 78% of the votes to beat out the other four nominees.A graduate of Chandigarh’s St. Stephen’s Academy, Jhingan labels himself as a “street footballer” and believes that is where his passion for football grew, eventually taking him to great heights including representing India. “I actually can’t really remember when I started playing football, but it was around 2007 (at age 14),” Jhingan said in an exclusive interview with indiansuperleague.com. “That is when I got really serious about football and becoming a pro. Prior to that, I was just playing football on the streets!”The youngest child in his family, Jhingan believes that his affiliation with sports comes from the time he spent with his three brothers, and also from the strong support his parents have provided him throughout his career."For me the definition of confidence is hard work."Sandesh Jhingan“My eldest brother Sahaj represented Chandigarh at state level for cricket, and my other two brothers, Saurabh and Surya, were into football,” he recalls. “Back in the day where there were no smartphones or the Internet, we used to just go out and play. Even today when I go back home and play football with my brothers, I cannot tackle them.”Jhingan went on to thank his family for the opportunity he has had to make a career out of his footballing talent. “I was the lucky one in the family that got to pursue sports even further than what my other brothers did and I feel that it is all because of them, my parents and hard work.”The young defender also revealed about the influence his eldest brother has had on him, in particular. “Sahaj really helped me a lot to be mentally stronger,” said Jhingan, before describing how his brother helped him get over a series of debilitating knee and ankle injuries. “I was injured for more than a year. It was really difficult to overcome – especially since I wanted to be with the national team. I almost gave football up because I was feeling so low,” he reminisced. “That is where my brother Sahaj came in and motivated me by saying, ‘Don’t give up, and keep working hard. Even if you fail, I will pick you up and support you.’ His words really inspired me, and now every time I am down, feeling low or not having a good game, I get his words in my head and it pushes me harder and inspires to perform better.”Another story from Jhingan’s early days showed that he had immense determination even as a budding footballer.“Once, I was doing a training drill, and I was really struggling with it. The coach then told me that since I couldn’t do it, I should stop practising it. It really annoyed me that I was discouraged by the coach – I was only 15 years old! It really motivated me to keep practising that same thing when I went back home. I never want to hear anyone tell me that I cannot do something on the football pitch.”Even the defender’s versatility is a result of dedicated training. “I will train for whatever position is required – be it a striker, a number 10, or a defender,” Jhingan asserted. “I am still a work-in-progress, and I have a long way to go, but I will keep on working on my skills, and hopefully I will be a better player someday. For me the definition of confidence is hard work.”The ISL’s latest ‘Player of the Week’ also described the thrill of being in the league learning from the likes of David James and Trevor Morgan. “David James is amazing! He is such a good mentor, always encouraging us and helping us out with how we can do something better,” Jhingan said of his player-coach. “Trevor Morgan brings a whole different set of expertise and experience to our training and it is great to soak up all the footballing knowledge he has. On and off the field, I am learning so much. Players like Humey (Iain Hume) and (Stephen) Pearson – I am soaking so much from them and it is going to stick with me for the rest of my life. This is how the ISL is helping me,” he trailed off.
