Nikhil Kadam (born 23 June 1994) 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

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

/ winger for

I-League 2nd division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

and CFL Premier A club

Bhawanipore Bhowanipore (also Bhowanipur; bn, ভবানীপুর) is a neighbourhood of South Kolkata in Kolkata district of West Bengal, India. History In 1717, the East India Company obtained the right to rent from 38 villages surrounding their s ...

Career

Early career

Born in

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is kn ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, Kadam was selected to join the

Pune F.C. Academy The Pune Football Club Academy was the youth team of Pune F.C., Pune Football Club. They played in the I-League U19, the highest level of youth football in India. The team closed operations in 2016 and were purchased by Indian Super League side ...

in 2011 as part of their first batch of players. He made his name known for the club during the 2012 I-League U20 season when he scored three goals for the academy in the final round of the league as the academy went on to win the league. Kadam then played for the academy in the Pune Super Division during the 2012 season. He scored one goal that season against Deccan XI on 7 June 2012. He is also a devotee of Tamil God

Aiyanar Ayyanar (IAST: Aiyaṉār, ta, ஐயனார்) is a Hindu deity venerated in South India and Sri Lanka. His worship is prevalent among the Dravidian peoples. Some studies suggest that Ayyanar may have also been worshipped in Southeast Asi ...

as shown in his interview in 2003

Pune

2012–13 season

Going into the

2012–13 I-League The 2012–13 I-League was the sixth season of the I-League, the Indian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 6 October 2012 and finished on 12 May 2013 with Churchill Brothers ...

season Kadam was selected into the

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, 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 ...

senior team for the

2012 Durand Cup The 2012 Durand Cup was the 125th season of the Durand Cup, the third oldest football tournament in the world, which is a knock-out competition held in India. Churchill Brothers were the current holders, having beaten Prayag United in the 201 ...

. He made his senior debut in this tournament on 23 August 2012 against Central Reserve Police when he came on in the 56th minute for Karma Tsewang as Pune drew the match 1–1. He then made his professional debut for the club during the

Federation Cup Federation Cup or Fed Cup is the former name of the premier world team competition in women's tennis. Federation Cup may also refer to: * Capital Football Federation Cup, an Australian territory-based association football tournament *Federation Cup ...

on 24 September 2012 against Salgaocar. He came on as a 69th-minute substitute for Mumtaz Akhtar as Pune lost the match 2–1. Kadam then made his debut 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 ...

on 9 November 2012 against

Pailan 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 ...

. He came on as an 89th-minute substitute for

Daisuke Nishiguchi is a Japanese association football, footballer who plays as an midfielder (association football)#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder for DSK Shivajians F.C. in the I-League 2nd Division. Career Pune After graduating from the Cerezo Osak ...

as Pune won the match 2–0. He then scored his first ever professional goal on 20 April 2013 against

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...

. He came off the bench in the 76th minute for

Anas Edathodika Anas Edathodika (born 15 February 1987) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Indian Super League club Jamshedpur and the Indian national team. Club career Early career Born in Kondotty, Malappuram, Kerala, ...

and scored the sixth goal for Pune in a 6–0 victory in the 86th minute.

2013–14 season

Kadam went into the

2013–14 I-League The 2013–14 I-League (known as the ''Airtel I-League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the I-League, the top-tier Indian professional league for football clubs, since its establishment in 2007. The season began on 21 Septemb ...

season as a starter for new head coach

Mike Snoei Mike Snoei (born 4 December 1963) is a former Dutch football player and manager. He is currently in charge of Eerste Divisie side Telstar. During his playing days, Snoei played for Excelsior and Sparta Rotterdam in the Eredivisie and Eerste Di ...

when he started against

Mohammedan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muham ...

in Pune's first match of the season on 21 September 2013. He stayed on till the 70th minute as Pune won 3–1. He then scored his first goal of the season on 1 December 2013 against

United SC United Sports Club (formerly known as both Prayag United, and Chirag United) is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded as Eveready Association in 1927, the club competes in the Calcutta Premier Division A, ...

at the

Balewadi Sports Complex The Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex is a sports complex located in Pune, India. The complex is situated about 15 km from Pune downtown and 5 km from Hinjawadi. This complex was the venue for the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, Kh ...

when he found the net in the 77th minute as Pune drew the match 1–1. However, that turned out to be the last major contribution from Kadam that season as he was reported injured before the I-League resumed in February 2014 and out for the rest of the season.

Mohammedan SC

Mohammedan SC (Kolkata) signed Nikhil Kadam on January 5, 2021, for the I-League season 2020-2021.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kadam, Nikhil 1994 births Living people People from Kolhapur Indian footballers Pune FC players Association football midfielders Footballers from Maharashtra I-League players