Udanta Singh Kumam (born 14 June 1996), is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

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 Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

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

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and the India national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

, Singh started his youth career at the

Tata Football Academy Tata Football Academy (Tata FA or TFA) is an association football academy situated in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India, sponsored by Tata Steel, which owns ISL outfit Jamshedpur FC. It is one of the renowned football academies in India. History ...

. While at TFA, Singh shined at the academy during the Darjeeling Gold Cup, Saras Gold Cup, and the

I-League U19 The Youth League, also known as Hero Youth League for sponsorship reasons, is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the All India Football Federation. It consists of 3 age groups competitions: U17 (E ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. He also represented the state of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

during the

2011 National Games of India The 2011 National Games of India, also known as the ''34th National Games of India'' and informally as Jharkhand 2011 was the 34th edition of National Games of India, held from 12 February 2011 to 26 February 2011 in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. S ...

. Singh also represented India during the Nike All Asia Camp in Australia, which he, and his teammate Alen Deory, were selected for the All-Star team. Singh left Tata Football Academy, after helping his side win the 2014 I-League U19, and in the process, he became the golden-boot winner with his nine goals during the tournament.

Bengaluru FC

On 15 July 2014 it was announced that Singh had signed a professional contract with

the reigning champions of 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 ...

, the topmost professional league in India. He made his debut for the side during the

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 ...

on 30 October 2014 against Mohammedan. He came off the bench for the start of the second half and played the full half as Bengaluru FC won the match 2–1. He then made his professional debut during the same tournament at the semi-final stage when Bengaluru FC took on Salgaocar. He once again came off the bench and scored his penalty during the penalty shoot-out but could not help his teams cause as Bengaluru FC fell on penalties 4–5. Udanta made his

debut in a 4–1 win against Sporting Goa on 31 March 2015, coming on as a substitute for Sean Rooney. Udanta assisted skipper

Sunil Chhetri Sunil Chhetri (born 3 August 1984) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the India national team. Widely regarded as the greatest Indian footballer of all time, h ...

for the winner in an

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...

group stage game against Maldivian side Maziya on 28 April 2015, thus becoming the youngest Indian player to provide an assist in AFC competitions. He scored his first goal for Bengaluru on 12 May 2015 in an AFC Cup game, where he opened the scoring in an eventual 3–1 defeat to

Persipura Jayapura Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jayapura, or Persipura, is an Indonesian football club based in Jayapura, Papua. The club was founded in 1963 and currently competes in the Liga 2. Persipura used to always use the Mandala Stadium as their ...

, thus becoming the youngest Indian goal scorer in AFC Cup. After the season ended, Singh was rewarded with a two-year contract extension. Udanta was excluded from the 2015 Indian Super League draft by Bengaluru FC, opting to send him on a training stint at English club

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

in the EFL League 2. Udanta scored his first

goal of the 2015–16 season on 2 March 2016 against Shillong Lajong, in a game where he was adjudged the man of the match. In the first league game of the 2016–17 season Udanta scored twice as Bengaluru beat Shillong Lajong 3–0. Afterwards Udanta was named man of the match with his second goals being described as a "beautiful volley." He was also named as player of the week by a newspaper for his performance in that match. Udanta scored a goal and assisted 7 times for Bengaluru during the 2017–18 Indian Super League season during which his team finished as runners-up. He also was a regular for his team during the AFC Cup where he scored once. For the 2018–19 ISL season, Singh scored 5 times and assisted thrice as his team ran out champions of the tournament. He scored a goal in the 2018 AFC Cup as well.

International

Udanta was selected to join the India U19 team in 2013 for the

AFC U-19 Championship qualification AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

where he started all 4 of India's matches, scoring once against Turkmenistan U19s. Udanta had his senior debut on 24 March 2016 in a qualifying match against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. On 1 June 2018, he scored his first goal in India's 5–0 victory over

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

Career statistics

Stats

International goals

Honours

India *

SAFF Championship The South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly known as SAFF Championship (previously known as ''South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup'' and ''South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup''), is the main international ...

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* Intercontinental Cup:

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King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

third place:

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India U23 *

South Asian Games The South Asian Games (SAG or SA Games), formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games (SAFG or SAF Games), is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic C ...

Silver medal:

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Tata Football Academy *

(1):

Bengaluru FC *

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 ...

(2): 2014–15, 2016–17 *

(1): 2015–16 *

: Runner-up

* Super Cup:

(1): 2018-19 *

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Individual *

Best Gentleman Cadet * FPAI ''Young Player of the Year'': 2015–16

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Udanta 1996 births Living people Indian footballers Bengaluru FC players I-League players Association football forwards Footballers from Manipur India youth international footballers India international footballers 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Indian Super League players Mumbai City FC players South Asian Games silver medalists for India South Asian Games medalists in football