Indian Football: 3 Puzzling omissions from the Indian squad

#2 Nishu Kumar

Nishu Kumar scored his maiden goal against Jordan

Muzaffarnagar, a district of western Uttar Pradesh, is known for its love for cricket. However, there is one boy who made heads turn and forced the local people to shift their allegiance to football. That little boy, Nishu Kumar, is currently an integral part of the Indian Super League champions Bengaluru FC and is one of the few ‘crorepati’ Indian footballers.

Known as ‘Ronaldo Bhai’ in his village, Nishu has faced and overcame several hardships since he started playing football at the age of five. He went on to play in the Chandigarh Football Academy and AIFF Elite Academy before being signed up by Bengaluru. Nishu has played for India in U-16 and U-19 levels.

Nishu played regularly for Bengaluru FC in the last ISL season. In the 18 matches that he played, Nishu has made 38 tackles along with 54 clearances and 26 blocks. He also scored a goal through a fine long ranger against Jamshedpur FC.

He is mainly a full back but can also move up to play in a more attacking role, like he did against Jordan in a friendly last year. With the Indian team missing most of their players due to disruptive flight schedules, Nishu was introduced in the second half and immediately reduced the margin by scoring his maiden goal in India colours.

Stimac has picked only five defenders in the Kings Cup squad and at some point; he might rue his decision of excluding Nishu.