Sandesh Jhingan: Always dreamt of playing for India since my childhood

The Kerala Blasters' defender engaged with his fans in an Instagram live session.

As the nationwide lockdown keeps us all confined in our respective abodes, the Indian Super League used their social media channels to keep the fans engaged with some laudable content. Indian national team mainstay Sandesh Jhingan joined sports presenter and commentator Anant Tyagi for an Instagram live session where the centre-back talked about a whole lot of issues. Here, we have drawn out some excerpts from the same:

In the opening stages of the conversation, Tyagi reminded Jhingan about the fact that Kerala Blasters have had eight different managers at helm in the six years of their existence. He also asked about the player’s assessment of Blasters’ season this time around.

Sandesh Jhingan said, “It’s something I am not proud of (the constant change of coaches). No but, I think what we wanted to achieve this season, the talks we had with the owners, CEO, the brand of football we wanted to play we managed to achieve that to an extent. Eelco deserves praise for that. We were a bit unlucky too with so many injuries. However, in certain games, we showed that the team had character. I have always said that I am proud of my team.”

He also talked passionately about the aspirations and dreams that he has carried of representing the Indian national football team. Also, one of the viewers asked the 26-year-old about his early days at United Sikkim and about playing along with a seasoned international veteran like Renedy Singh.

Jhingan explained, “You see, as a kid everyone has a dream of playing for big European clubs like Manchester United and Barcelona. However, for me, it was always the national team. I was crazy about it. In my classes, I used to make these teams of 11 players and put the likes of Subrata Pal, Gourmangi Singh in those sides all the time.”

“I was thrilled to have gotten the trials with United Sikkim. I remember when I was 15 I had once shaken hands with Bhaichung Bhai and I remember thinking that I was never going to wash my hands ever again. I was just very excited to have signed the contract in the first place, then to train with Renedy Bhai."

"It was something like a dream for me, to be along with those players. If God asks me if I want to change anything about the start of my career, I would say nothing. Renedy Bhai used to help me a lot back then too. Every day after training he used to come to talk to me, he used to say that you will go a long way.”

Later on, Jhingan was probed about whom he would like to partner him at the heart of the Kerala Blasters’ backline next season. Jhingan quipped, “First I need to be picked by the next coach. I think Tiri is joining. I don’t know if it’s official or not. If Tiri comes in, I will love to play. He is a good friend of mine. We often talk after matches. We speak and analyze each other’s games. He’s a top player, a great guy to talk to, one of the finest players to play in India. He is a very humble player. But yeah, first I need to get picked by the next coach.”

To round off the almost hour-long conversation, Tyagi asked Jhingan dual questions about his experiences of having led the Indian team for the first time and also about the draw against Qatar back in September last year. Jhingan elaborated, “So, like I have said, the proudest moment in my life is to make my debut for my country. Then it’s an icing in the cake for me to captain the country. I was very proud of myself. I was 23 back then and I am really proud of that.

“That was a great game as a unit especially after the Oman game, the goals that we conceded I will take the blame for that…but yes I can’t change that. But, to come up with that sort of performance in the next game was excellent. I remember we went for a dinner in Qatar, the coach took us and he said that he is very proud of us. When you lose a game you expect some hard words but the first thing that the coach said was that he is very proud of us and all of us felt so happy, it’s really important to have that admiration and respect for the coach.”

“It was not as if any of the one guys was extraordinary. As a whole team, we were extraordinary. We had Thapa winning the loose balls, Rowllin, Mandar, Manvir as well winning all those headers. We as a whole team were exceptional to be honest. It showed the unity, the way we played was exceptional.

“The best thing was when the game was going to start; we had a genuine feeling that we were going to do something there. It’s important to dream big. I always say that it is important to dream big and then work hard for it. As I said, five minutes more and we could have the winner and the country would have been dancing.”

Midway through the chat, the former Mumbai FC player was asked about his ISL team of the 2019-20 season. Opting for a 4-2-3-1 formation, his side looked as follows:

Amrinder Singh,  Prabir Das, Pritam Kotal, Juanan, Jessel Carneiro, Ahmed Jahouh, Rowllin Borges, Hugo Boumous, Sunil Chhetri, Roy Krishna, Bartholomew Ogbeche.

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