Shaji Prabhakaran wants me to play for India, says Yan Dhanda

This is the first part of the Yan Dhanda interview series.

Indian origin football player Yan Dhanda spoke exclusively on the Khel Now's 'Beyond the Scores' podcast on various topics related to his football career. Yan Dhanda is an English professional footballer who currently plays for Scottish Premiership side Ross County.

The 24-year-old grabbed eyeballs after former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand tweeted, ”Love it Yan Dhanda, surely Indian National team”. The former English International along with the tweet tagged Indian National head coach Igor Stimac, AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, and Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran.

Shaji Prabhakaran was quick to reply and thanked Rio Ferdinand for tweeting about Yan Dhanda. He said, "Dear Rio, Thank you. It would be our pleasure to welcome Yan to the Indian national team if he is willing to apply for an Indian passport by moving to India. His challenge would be to relinquish his current nationality but it will be worth it as he can quickly emerge as a hero of 1.4 billion.”

Yan Dhanda in his reply iterated, "Giving up my passport means I can’t play professionally in the UK and some European clubs, due to India’s FIFA ranking. Permitting OCI cards, similar to other countries, will allow me to represent the Indian football team as a dual national. I hope this can happen soon.”

Conversation with the AIFF Secretary General

In Khel Now's podcast, Yan Dhanda was asked if any member from the AIFF got in touch with him after the series of tweets. Yan answered, ”Yes, had a WhatsApp call with General Secretary Shaji Prabhakaran and told him that I want to represent India as the fans deserve to see India play in the World Cup.

"Shaji wanted me to play for India but the government and the Federation need to come to an agreement. Indian fans deserve to see the national team play in the World Cup and I do hope the call to Shaji would be productive. If few OCI card holders are allowed to play then it will be highly beneficial for the country,” he added.

Career so far

Yan Dhanda began his youth career at West Bromwich Albion before moving to Liverpool at the age of 14. After spending five years at Anfield, he decided to move to Swansea City FC's senior set-up in 2018. In his four-year stay, Yan scored five goals in over 50 appearances.

In a major move in 2022, Dhanda signed a two-year contract with Highland-based Scottish Premiership team Ross County. The Indian origin was also called up to play for the England U17 team in 2014.