Ayush Adhikari (born 30 July 2000) 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 le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

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

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 ...

Club career

Youth and early career

After impressing for

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 w ...

state team during the U14 nationals, Ayush was selected for the U Dream Football programme in Germany, where he spent almost four years of his life. On his return to India, Ayush signed for

Ozone FC Ozone Football Club Bengaluru, or simply known as Ozone FC, was an Indian professional football club based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Founded in 2015, the club competed in Bangalore Super Division, the top division of football in the state. Ozo ...

. During the

2018–19 Santosh Trophy The 2018–19 Santosh Trophy was the 73rd edition of the Santosh Trophy, the premier competition in India for teams representing their regional and state football associations. Kerala were the defending champions, having defeated West Bengal i ...

, Ayush finished as the top scorer with 6 goals despite his side failing to make the knockouts.

Kerala Blasters

In July 2019, he was signed by

into their reserves side. However, he was loaned 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 ...

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 ...

. He made his

professional debut for Indian Arrows on 28 December 2019 at

Fatorda Stadium Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, locally known as Fatorda Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium situated in Margao, Goa, India. The venue has been used to host both international football as well as International cricket matches.However after th ...

against

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

, he started the match and was substituted in 86th minute as they won 1–2. In 2020, Ayush was promoted into the senior side of the Blasters. He made his debut for the club against

Hyderabad FC Hyderabad Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Hyderabad, Telangana. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Founded on 27 August 2019, the club replaced Pune City after they ...

on 16 February 2021, by coming as a substitute for

Gary Hooper Gary Hooper (born 26 January 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Cypriot club Omonia. Hooper started his career at League Grays Athletic in 2003. While there he won the 2004–05 Conference South, as well ...

. Ayush was named in the Blasters squad for the

2021 Durand Cup The 2021 Durand Cup is the 130th edition of Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in Asia. Like its previous edition, the tournament was hosted in West Bengal, instead of its traditional venue, Delhi. The tournament is jointly hosted by t ...

, where he appeared for the club in all the three matches of the tournament. He played his first match of the

2021–22 Indian Super League season The 2021–22 Indian Super League season is the 8th season of the Indian Super League (ISL) Since its formation and 26th season of the top division of the Indian football league system. The start date and fixtures for the first 11 rounds were a ...

in the season opener against

ATK Mohun Bagan FC ATK Mohun Bagan FC () is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club, which was formed as a merger between the football section of m ...

on 19 November 2021, which they lost 4–2. The following game, Adhikari made his first start for the Blasters in Indian Super League, on 25 November 2021, in a 0–0 draw to

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

before being substituted for Puitea. On 4 February 2022, Ayush saw two yellows, resulting in a sent-off in his second start of the season against NorthEast United, which they also won with the score of 2–1 at full-time. In April 2022, Ayush was included in the Kerala Blasters' reserve team and was appointed as their captain to participate in the inaugural edition of the

Reliance Foundation Development League The Reliance Foundation Development League is India's first developmental football league organised by the Reliance Foundation in technical support with the All India Football Federation. A total of eight teams participated in the first tournam ...

. Under his captaincy, they became runners up of the tournament and qualified for the NextGen Cup, which took place in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He also captained the side in the NextGen Cup.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Kerala Blasters FC

runner up: 2021–22.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adhikari, Ayush 2000 births Living people People from Delhi Indian footballers Indian Arrows players I-League players Footballers from Delhi Kerala Blasters FC players Association football midfielders Ozone FC players I-League 2nd Division players Indian Super League players Kerala Blasters FC Reserves and Academy players