Krishna Pandit (born 29 August 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 lea ...

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) ** Smal ...

for FC Goa B in the

Goa Professional League The Goa Football League is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of Goa, organised by the Goa Football Association as part of the state leagues. It was formed in 1951 as the Goa Primeira Divisão or Goa First Division, and ...

Club career

Pandit was born in

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

, he took his schooling at

St. John's High School, Chandigarh St. John's High School is an Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice Educational Institute, founded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1959. The school building was designed by prominent French architect Pierre Jeanneret. It is located in S ...

, and first went to learn football at the age of 8. Pandit played his first match in under-12 team as a midfielder. Pandit represented his state in national level competitions before being selected to join the AIFF Regional Academy in 2012. Before joining the academy, Pandit was coached by former India international Sanjeev Maria. He was considered very highly rated among most involved with Indian football after he scored eight goals in only five matches during the AFC U14 Festival. Eventually, Pandit joined Minerva Punjab, at the time still known as ''Minerva Academy''. He soon played for the club during the

I-League 2nd Division The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

. After Minerva Punjab earned a spot in the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

, the top division of Indian football, Pandit made his professional debut on 8 January 2017 against

Chennai City Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian censu ...

. He came on as a 76th-minute substitute for Manandeep Singh as Minerva Punjab drew the match 0–0.

Goa B

After the

season, Pandit joined the reserve side of

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club

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 bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

International career

Pandit has represented India at various age levels. He made his international debut for India at the under-14 level in May 2012 during the AFC U-14 Football Festival. He scored eight goals in five matches for India. In 2013, he was promoted to the under-16 side for the

SAFF U-16 Championship The SAFF U-15/U-16/U-17 Championship is an annual international football competition contested by the national teams of the members of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). The first edition was held as ''SAFF U-16 Championship'', where most ...

Career statistics

Honours

Individual

Best Player:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

Minerva Punjab FC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandit, Krishna 1998 births Living people Indian men's footballers Minerva Academy FC players FC Goa players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Chandigarh I-League 2 players 21st-century Indian sportsmen I-League players Goa Professional League players India men's youth international footballers