Asish Rai (born 27 January 1999) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a defender for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club Mohun Bagan SG.

Club career

Early life and youth career

Rai was born in

Pakyong Pakyong is the district headquarters of Pakyong District in the Indian state of Sikkim, located in the foothills of the Himalayas. It holds many Government Offices. Pakyong Airport is the only airport of Sikkim. The "National Research Centre ...

, a small village in

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

. He always liked to play football, even as a kid. He got interested in the game by his uncle, who played football himself. He was selected by a local academy in his state at the age of 12. He travelled to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

to play in the Subroto Cup, spent a couple of years there before joining the Pune Academy which was later converted into the Pune City Academy. Since,

Pune City Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

already had experienced players in the right-back position, they loaned him out to

Indian Arrows Indian Arrows (formerly known as Pailan Arrows) was an Indian developmental football club that competed in the I-League. The club was formed by the All India Football Federation in 2010, with a main goal of nurturing young Indian football tal ...

Indian Arrows

2017–18 season

On 29 November 2017, Rai was selected to play for the

, an All India Football Federation owned team that would consist of India under-20 players to give them playing time. He made his professional debut for the side on 26 December 2017, against Shillong Lajong. He started and played the full match as

won 3–0. In his debut season, Rai made ten appearances, one in the

2018 Indian Super Cup The 2018 Hero Super Cup was the inaugural edition of the Super Cup and 39th season of the main club knockout football competition in India. The competition is sponsored by Hero MotoCorp and is officially known as the Hero Super Cup. The competi ...

for the Arrows. Although they finished bottom of the table in the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

, they impressed with their gameplay and football.

2018–19 season

On 5 November 2018, he scored his first goal for the club in only his second appearance of the season against Shillong Lajong, which eventually was the winning goal as the Arrows won 1-0. He featured in all 20 matches of the

2018–19 I-League The 2018–19 I-League was the 12th season of the I-League, the top Indian professional football league, since its establishment in 2007. The season started on 26 October 2018 and is scheduled to conclude in March 2019. Unlike the Indian Super ...

campaign and also a couple in the

2019 Indian Super Cup The 2019 Super Cup was the second edition of the Super Cup and 40th season of the main club knockout football competition in India. The competition is sponsored by Hero MotoCorp and is officially known as the Hero Super Cup. The competition b ...

, as he became a permanent fixture in the right full-back position. The team improved from the season before and picked up 21 points to finish eighth in the points table.

Hyderabad

2019–20 season

Rai went back to the reserves team of

, and when the club was dissolved in the summer of 2019, their replacement club

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

signed him for their first team. He made his professional debut for the club on 25 October 2019, against ATK in a 5-0 loss. On 8 December 2019,

head coach Phil Brown heaped praise on Rai after he put in a splendid display in the right-back position, in their narrow 1-0 defeat against

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. The debut season of

was a devastating one for the club and the fans, most of the Indian players didn’t play in their preferred position and one of them was Rai. He played as a left-back, right-back and on the wings, too. He played 14 games for them in the

2019–20 Indian Super League season The 2019–20 Indian Super League season was the sixth season of the Indian Super League, one of the top Indian professional football leagues. The regular season began on 20 October 2019 and concluded on 14 March 2020. Hyderabad replaced the d ...

. Due to the unstableness in the squad, tactics and many other factors, he wasn’t able to perform up to the mark and couldn’t give his best. On 17 February 2020, Rai signed a three-year extension with the club, till May 2023.

2020–21 season

Rai and

set the stage alight in the 2020-21 Indian Super League season, under the stewardship of Manolo Márquez. The second season was a huge improvement for the outfit from the inaugural 2019-20 campaign, where they had finished last in the standings. Despite staying in contention for the playoffs throughout, the Nizams missed out on qualification on the final day due to a string of draws and dropped points. Rai was in sensational form throughout the season until he picked up a season-ending knee injury against

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

, on 16 February 2021. The right-back’s industry on the flank and constant threat in the attacking third made him a tough operator for the opposition to contain. He featured in 18 matches of the 2020-21 Indian Super League campaign and also racked up two assists in the process. Head coach

Márquez Márquez or Marquez is a surname of Spanish origin, meaning "son of Marcos or Marcus". Its Portuguese equivalent is Marques. It should not be confused with the surname Marqués, also of Spanish origin. People * Adrian Garcia Marquez, American s ...

called Rai "the most improved player" of last season.

Mohun Bagan SG

Rai moved to another Indian Super League side Mohun Bagan SG in 2022. He made his debut for the club on 20 August against Rajasthan United at the 131st edition of

Durand Cup The Durand Football Tournament, commonly known as Durand Cup, is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Shimla. Hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and All India Football Federation ...

and they were defeated by 3–2.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Mohun Bagan *

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

: 2022–23 Hyderabad *

: 2021–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Asish 1999 births Living people Indian men's footballers Footballers from Sikkim Indian Gorkhas Pune FC players FC Pune City players Indian Arrows players Hyderabad FC players Mohun Bagan Super Giant players Men's association football defenders India men's youth international footballers I-League players Indian Super League players