I never expected a call from an ISL team: Nandakumar

“I never expected a call from an ISL team. I was surprised when Delhi Dynamos contacted me regarding a contract. All I thought at that moment was giving my best for a team which has shown faith in me,” said Nandakumar.  

From watching his home town team play live at the ‘Marina Arena’ to stepping on to face it on the same blade of grass on Sunday, the midfielder has come a long way in a matter of a year. Nandakumar displayed some flashy moves with finesse on the left flank and set up a breath-taking cross for David Ngaihte to open the account for the visitor.  

“I used to watch Chennaiyin FC matches from the stands at the Nehru Stadium during ISL 3. I am very happy to be back in my home town and playing in such a highly-rated league. Though I was playing against CFC, I wanted to deliver and I managed to give it all on the field,” added Nanda. 

The Chennai-born player was positive about his side leapfrogging a few places in the future as it is currently languishing at the bottom of the league standings with four points. 

“Silly mistakes have cost us so many points thus far. I still believe we can make a turnaround in this campaign. We are working extremely hard to achieve it,” shared the winger. 

Commenting on the dissimilarities between I-League and the ISL, the 22-year-old said, “There are lots of international coaches in the ISL and the training methods are well advanced. I got to know about the full importance of practice only after being a part of the ISL. A lot of care is also taken on health and nutrition by our team staff.” 

Nandakumar would have been working in the government sector had his brother not played a pivotal role in persuading his parents to let him play football. “My father is an auto driver. He wanted me to secure a government job which would help me settle in life. I had to convince my parents as they felt it would be a risk to depend on football for income. My brother was instrumental in helping me pursue my passion.” 

The local lad, who comes from a football-crazy area in the city, got hooked to the sport at the age of ten. “All the kids in our area used to assemble to play football because of the love they had for it. My father put in huge efforts to make me join a local team,” added Nandakumar.