Vinit Rai

Vinit Rai Chamling (born 10 October 1997) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Indian football club Odisha and the Indian football team.

Vinit Rai
Personal information
Full name Vinit Rai Chamling
Date of birth (1997-10-10) 10 October 1997
Place of birth Assam, India
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Central midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Odisha
Number 16
Youth career
2010–2014 Tata Football Academy
2014 Dempo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2016 Dempo 2 (0)
2016 Kerala Blasters 2 (0)
2017 → Minerva Punjab (loan) 4 (0)
2017–2019 Delhi Dynamos 29 (0)
2019– Odisha 11 (1)
National team‡
2015– India U23 7 (0)
2018– India 11 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 Jan 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:10, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Career

Born in Assam, Rai was scouted by the Tata Football Academy at the age of 13 and trained there for four years.[1] After graduating from Tata, Rai signed with I-League side Dempo. On signing Rai, Dempo head coach at the time, Arthur Papas said "Vinit is a very cultured midfielder with a great range of passing. He has a willingness to always want the ball and link the play between the defensive and forward lines."[2] Rai would enter the 2014–15 season with Dempo as the youngest first-team player.[2] After spending a majority of the season playing for the club's youth team, Rai made his professional debut for Dempo in the league on 1 March 2015 against East Bengal. He came on as an 81st-minute substitute for Jewel Raja as Dempo lost 5–1.[3]

Kerala Blasters

After helping Dempo regain promotion to the I-League, Rai signed with Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters on 6 September 2016.[1] He made his debut for the team on 1 October 2016 against NorthEast United. He started the match and played 76 minutes as Kerala Blasters fell 1–0.[4]

Minerva Punjab

After the ISL 2016 season, Vinit Rai signed with Minerva FC and will make its debut in I-league this season.[5]

Odisha FC

Rai joined Odisha FC for the 2019–20 ISL season as a midfielder.[6]

International

Rai made his debut for the India under-23 side on 27 March 2015 against Uzbekistan U23 in the 2016 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers. He played 80 minutes as India U23 fell 2–0.[7] Almost a year later, Rai made his debut on the bench for the India senior side in their FIFA World Cup qualifier against Iran. He did not come off the bench though.[8] Rai, however, did make his unofficial debut for India in the team's unofficial friendly against Bhutan. He came on as a 64th minute for Rowllin Borges as India won 3–0.[9]

Career statistics
As of 30 June 2019[10]
Club Season League Federation Cup/Super Cup Durand Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dempo 2014–15 I-League20——————20
Kerala Blasters 2016 Indian Super League2000————20
Minerva Punjab (loan) 2016–17 I-League4000————40
Delhi Dynamos 2017–18 Indian Super League13010——00140
2018–19 16010——00170
Odisha 2019–20 Indian Super League4000——0040
Career total 410200000430

References
  1. "Kerala Blasters sign Vinit Rai". Arunfoot. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  2. "Young Players to watch out for in Dempo". The All India Football Federation. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  3. "Dempo 1-5 East Bengal". Soccerway.
  4. "NorthEast United 1-0 Kerala Blasters". Soccerway.
  5. "Vinit Rai to play is trade for Minerva FC". Goalie365.
  6. "Vinit Rai-profile". indiansuperleague.com. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  7. "Uzbekistan U23 2-0 India U23". The Asian Football Confederation.
  8. "Iran 4-0 India". Soccerway.
  9. "Bhutan 0-3 India". Soccerway.
  10. Vinit Rai at Soccerway
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.