Rahul Bheke

Rahul Shankar Bheke (born 6 December 1990) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the Indian national team.

Rahul Bheke
Rahul Bheke with the Indian Captain and Legend Sunil Chettri
Personal information
Full name Rahul Shankar Bheke
Date of birth (1990-12-06) 6 December 1990
Place of birth Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position(s) Right back/Center back
Club information
Current team
 Bengaluru
Number 2
Youth career
Mahindra United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Air India 23 (0)
2013 Mumbai Tigers 0 (0)
2014–2015 Mumbai 20 (1)
2015–2017 East Bengal 25 (0)
2015 → Kerala Blasters (loan) 12 (0)
2016 → Pune City (loan) 10 (0)
2017– Bengaluru 55 (4)
National team‡
2019– India 9 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 March 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:10, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Bheke started to play football for his school teams before joining the under-19 squad of Mahindra United.[1] Bheke found it tough to mix his football career with his school studies and once he made the Mahindra United U19 side, he found it harder.[1] Bheke then joined his first professional club, Air India, and played for them from 2011 to 2013.[2] After Air India were expelled from the I-League, Bheke joined Mumbai Tigers. He played for them in small cup competitions before leaving the club.[3]

Mumbai

In January 2014, Bheke returned to the I-League after he signed for Mumbai.[4] He made his debut for the club on 15 January against Mohun Bagan in the Federation Cup. He came on as a substitute for Pappachen Pradeep as Mumbai lost 1–0.[4] He went on to make eight appearances for the club that season and before the next season was awarded with a contract extension.[4]

Bheke scored his first professional goal on 7 April 2015 against Bengaluru at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. His 67th-minute goal put Mumbai in the lead but Robin Singh managed to equalize two minutes before stoppage time to end the game 1–1.[5]

East Bengal

After two seasons with Mumbai, Bheke signed for fellow I-League side, East Bengal.[6] On 5 September 2015, Bheke scored for East Bengal against arch-rivals, Mohun Bagan, during a Calcutta Football League match at the Salt Lake Stadium. His goal helped East Bengal achieve a 4–0 victory.[7]

Kerala Blasters (loan)

After a good performance for Mumbai during the 2014–15 I-League season, Bheke was one of the available players during the 2015 Indian Super League domestic draft.[8] Unfortunately, Bheke was not chosen in the draft.[8] However, in September 2015, it was revealed that Bheke had joined the Kerala Blasters for their pre-season camp and eventually he signed with the club on loan from East Bengal.[8][9] Bheke made his debut for the club during their opening fixture against NorthEast United on 6 October 2015. He started and played 90 minutes as Kerala Blasters won 3–1.[10]

Bengaluru

Bheke was picked by Bengaluru in Round 4 in 2017–18 ISL Players Draft. In February 2018, Bengaluru extended his contract till 2021.[11] Bheke scored the deciding goal in the 2018-19 Indian Super League Final in 117th minute to win the first Indian Super League trophy for Bengaluru. He played in all of Bengaluru’s league games that season, with 20 games and 3 goals in the ISL.

International career

Bheke made his international debut against Curaçao in 2019 King's Cup on 5 June 2019, under head coach Igor Stimac.

Career statistics

Club
As of 25 March 2020[12]
Club Season League Federation Cup/Super Cup Durand Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Air India 2012–13 I-League2300000––230
Mumbai 2013–14 603000––90
2014–15 1414000––181
East Bengal 2015–16 1002000––120
2016–17 1504000––190
Kerala Blasters (loan) 2015 Indian Super League120––––––120
Pune City (loan) 2016 100––––––100
Bengaluru 2017–18 19031––21242
2018–19 20310––103316
2019–20 161000010171
Career total 14551810013417611

International
As of 19 November 2019[13]
Appearances and Goals by year
YearAppsGoals
201990

Honours

Club
East Bengal
Bengaluru FC

References
  1. Shukla, Kaushal (1 December 2015). "From rejection to record-breaking, the story of Rahul Bheke, the most featured Indian player in ISL 2". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  2. "Air India 2012–13 Squad". WorldFootball.
  3. "Air India beat Mumbai Tigers in tie-breaker to lift the 1st Kalina MLA Cup". Afternoon DC. 24 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  4. "Rahul Bheke pens contract extension at Mumbai FC". Goal.com. 11 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  5. "Bengaluru FC 1–1 Mumbai". Soccerway.
  6. Qadiri, Faizan (25 June 2015). "East Bengal sign Rahul Bheke and Bikash Jairu as Biswajit Bhattacharya begins new era". SportsKeed. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  7. Mitra, Atanu (6 September 2015). "East Bengal 4–0 Mohun Bagan: Do Dong heroics script historic Calcutta Football League win". Goal.com. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  8. Shukla, Kaushal (1 December 2015). "From rejection to record-breaking, the story of Rahul Bheke, the most featured Indian player in ISL 2". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  9. Mitra, Atanu. "East Bengal's Rahul Bheke joins Kerala Blasters' pre-season training". Goal.com. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  10. "Kerala Blasters 3–1 NorthEast United". Soccerway.
  11. "BFC extends Rahul Bheke's contract by three years". 22 February 2018.
  12. Rahul Bheke at Soccerway
  13. "Rahul Bheke". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
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