Young Jamshedpur FC defender Sandip Mandi eyes slot in starting XI

The 20-year-old TFA graduate can play in any position

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, September 9: Young Sandip Mandi is eyeing a slot in the first XI and the defender is also trying hard to make it a reality in the Indian Super League (ISL) starting next month.

But Mandi, a former Tata Football Academy (TFA) graduate, is aware about the competition in breaking into the starting eleven.

“I will need to compete with Ricky bhai (Ricky Lallawmawma) for making into the playing eleven. It’s good for me as well. It will be a learning experience for me throughout,” Mandi, who made five appearances in the ISL last season, said.

The 20-year-old, who hails from West Bengal, has the capability of playing in any position but would like to operate as a centre back. He has been used in different roles for Jamshedpur FC under different coaches. He started as a left back, then played on the wings under Owen Coyle and led the defence centrally during the Reliance Foundation Development League.

“I am young now, so it doesn’t bother me much. The coach can play me wherever he feels is right for me. I can change myself according to the coach’s plans and play in any position. Speaking honestly, I like to play as a centre-back more because of the added responsibility there. Also, I get the ball more while playing in that position,” he said.

The defender’s love for the game developed after watching his father and other locals play. “I joined Kalyani Municipality Football Academy to train professionally. From there, I was selected for the West Bengal team. I travelled to Odisha with the team where we defeated Jharkhand by a big margin and I was selected for India U-14 team from there,” Mandi recalled.

“Then came the call for the India U-16 team, where I got great exposure while travelling to other countries. I got to learn a lot from the foreign players of my age. It was a commendable experience to see how they train, their diet and their game. Following that, I was called up for a trial at the Tata Football Academy.”

Mandi made his debut for Jamshedpur FC in ISL 2019-20 season. The versatile defender remembers his days at the elite TFA.

“At TFA, seeing players like Tiri and Memo train motivated me to push harder and get into the first team. When I finally got my debut at the Furnace against ATK, I was really nervous. But seniors like Subrata Da (Subrata Paul) came and comforted me,” he said.

“Jamshedpur FC has one of the best fan bases in the country. And making my debut in front of the home fans at the age of 17 was nerve-wracking for me. I made some mistakes in the game as well, but I got the support from coach Antonio (Iriondo) to keep going,” he added.