Rakesh Pradhan (born 2 August 1993), 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 defender for I-League 2nd Division club Bengaluru United.

Career

Born in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, Pradhan is a product of the

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong FC (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya, that competes in the Shillong Premier League. The club was established in 1983 with the prime objective of improving the declining st ...

academy. While still a regular with the academy set-up, Pradhan made his first appearances for the Shillong Lajong first team during 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 ...

. Pradhan appeared on the bench on three occasions, against Dempo,

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 ...

, and

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

, but didn't see any time on the pitch. More than four years later, prior to the 2017–18 season, Pradhan was added to the Shillong Lajong first team for 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 ...

. He then made his professional debut for the club in their opening match against

Gokulam Kerala Gokulam Kerala Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Calicut, Kerala. Founded in 2017, the club competes in the I-League, the second tier of Indian football league system. They won the 2020–21 I-League to become the ...

. Pradhan started and played the whole match as Shillong Lajong won 1–0. At the end of the season, Pradhan had played and started in all 18 of Shillong Lajong's matches during the I-League season. On 4 April 2018, Pradhan scored his first professional goal against

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 ...

in the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

. His goal in the 61st minute was the equalizer as Shillong Lajong came back from being 0–2 down to winning 3–2. On 18 January 2021, Pradhan was signed by Odisha FC on loan from

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 Supe ...

& made his debut for the new club on 19 January 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 ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Shillong Lajong Profile
1997 births Living people People from Assam Indian footballers Shillong Lajong FC players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Assam I-League players Indian Super League players NorthEast United FC players Odisha FC players Sudeva Delhi FC players {{India-footy-bio-stub