Ishan Pandita (born 26 May 1998) 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 forward 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 ...

and the India national team.

Club career

Early and youth career

Pandita moved to the Philippines, where he attended British school in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and took football training. He returned to Bengaluru at the age of eleven, and then appeared with Student Unions and Bangalore Yellows. He soon gained recognition in BDCA Division A and C state soccer leagues.

IF Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish football club located in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality. Brommapojkarna is t ...

spotted Pandita and included in their U17 side after his brilliant performance at the 2013

Gothia Cup The Gothia Cup () is an international youth association football tournament organized by professional football club BK Häcken, which has been held annually since 1975 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Considered the biggest tournament in the world in terms ...

in Sweden. Pandita moved to Spain in 2014 at the age of 16 and joined Alcobendas Juvenil. In 2015, he joined the Under-18 team of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

club

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

but he did not sign a professional contract as he had not turned 18 that time. In the 2016, he joined the U-19 team of

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popul ...

. He was the first ever Indian footballer to play for a Juvenil side of a Spanish top division club. After a spell at Leganes, he signed a short-term contract with the U-23 team of Gimnàstic on 5 January 2019.

Pobla Mafumet

Ishan signed his first senior contract for the farm club of Gimnàstic, Pobla Mafumet in early 2019. He played only one match for the club throughout his debut season and left the club.

Lorca

In August 2019, he signed a one-year deal with Tercera Division Club Lorca. He played 26 matches and scored 6 goals and was the top scorer for the club in the 2019–20 season.

Goa

Initially he and his family wanted to stay in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, but due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

situation it was difficult to find a club for him. In early 2020, rumours spread about Pandita's return to India and it was speculated that he might sign for

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 ...

. In October 2020, the club revealed that it had secured Pandita in their squad. He made his debut for FC Goa on 30 November 2020 against

NorthEast United 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 Sup ...

at 89th minute of that match as a substitute. He scored his debut goal for FC Goa against

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 ...

on 30 December 2020. He came as a substitute on 86th minute and scored with his first touch on the 87th minute as FC Goa equalised the game. He has also represented FC Goa at the 2021 AFC Champions League, in which they achieved third place in group stages.

Jamshedpur

On 2 September 2021, it was announced that Pandita was signed by Jamshedpur on a two-year deal for a fee reported around 6 Million, ahead 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 ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in their 3–2 win against

on 6 January 2022.

Kerala Blasters

On 10 August 2023,

announced the signing of Pandita on a two-year deal with an option to extend for one more year. He made his debut for the club on 18 August, by coming as a substitute in the 60th minute in a match against Bengaluru FC reserves during the

2023 Durand Cup The 2023 Durand Cup (also known as IndianOil Durand Cup due to sponsorship ties with the Indian Oil Corporation) was the 132nd edition of Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in Asia, and the second edition since it was supported by the A ...

. On 21 October, Pandita made his debut for the club in the Indian Super League against

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 Sup ...

at home, by coming as a substitute in the 78th minute which ended in 1–1 draw.

International career

Pandita's performances in his debut season in the ISL were noticed, and subsequently he earned a call-up to the India national team in March 2021, ahead of India's friendlies against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

and

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. On 25 March, he made his debut in 1–1 draw against

. Ishan scored for India during a practice game against I-League All-Stars on 18 May 2022 in Kolkata. He scored his first international goal on 14 June against

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

in their 4–0 win at the

2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification The 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification was the qualification process organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to determine the participating teams for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, the 18th edition of the international men's football champion ...

. In September, he participated at the

2022 VFF Tri-Nations Series The VFF Tri Nation Series, also known as Hưng Thịnh International Football Tournament for sponsorship reason, and the eleventh edition of VFF Cup is a football tournament that have the Indian, Singaporean and host Vietnamese national teams ...

in Vietnam, where India finished as runners-up. He appeared in India's second match in group stage, against

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

at the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will involve 24 national teams after expansion in 201 ...

on 18 January 2024, in their 3–0 defeat.

Personal life

Ishan Pandita was born on 26 May, 1998 in

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 a family originating in

Tral Tral is a town, sub-district and a notified area committee in the Pulwama district of Indian-administered Kashmir. The town is situated at a distance of from summer capital, Srinagar and from district headquarters, Pulwama. Tral is the sec ...

, Kashmir. He then moved to Bengaluru, but stayed there not longer and moved to Spain as he desired to play better football there. After spending a term of six years in various lower division Spanish clubs, he returned to India and signed for Goa.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list India's goal tally first''

Honours

Jamshedpur *

League Winners Shield (Premiership): 2021–22

References

External links

* * *
Ishan Pandita
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandita, Ishan Living people 1998 births Indian men's footballers Footballers from Delhi Men's association football forwards India men's international footballers CF Pobla de Mafumet footballers Tercera División players Indian Super League players Lorca FC players FC Goa players Jamshedpur FC players Indian expatriate men's footballers Kerala Blasters FC players Indian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 2023 AFC Asian Cup players