Arnab Das Sharma (born 20 December 1987) is an Indian football player.

Career

Youth

Sharma stepped into club level football at the age of 13, joining

Kalighat Club Kalighat Milan Sangha (also known as Kalighat MS), is an Indian professional multi-sports club based in Kalighat, Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Premier Division of Calcutta Football League. Founded in 1944, the club has mostly been ...

in Kolkata after successfully giving a trial there. He continued to play for the team until he was selected to play for the youth team at

Rajasthan Football Club Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

, Kolkata.

Professional

George Telegraph SC

After a successful youth career, Sharma was picked up by

George Telegraph SC George Telegraph Sporting Club is an Indian multisports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Calcutta Football League, the top tier state football league in West Bengal. The club plays all their home matches at the Rab ...

, one of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

's major football teams and continued to play for the team in the

Calcutta Football League The Calcutta Football League (CFL) is a ladder-based football competition in the Indian state of West Bengal, organised by Indian Football Association (WB), under state football leagues in India. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is off ...

Air India

GoalKeeper coach Somen SinghaChowdhury sent this immensely talented player to

Air India FC Air India Football Club is an Indian professional football club, founded by Anand Prajapati in 1952, based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. They are sponsored by Air India, and have enjoyed some success in the MDFA Elite League. They have also compet ...

coach

Bimal Ghosh Bimal Ghosh (born 29 June 1956) is an Indian former footballer and the current head coach of Tollygunge Agragami. Coaching career Air India During the first ever National Football League season in 1996–97, Ghosh was the coach the Air India ...

. Signing for the Mumbai-based club was Sharma's debut in 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 win ...

, India's highest football league.

Kingfisher East Bengal

In the year 2008, having had a series of brilliant displays in goal, Kolkata giants

East Bengal FC East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top ...

approached the youngster and he finally signed for the team. This season was not one to remember for Sharma, having fallen to 2nd choice to India no. 1 Subrata Paul.

Back to Air India

The following year, hearing of the keepers availability,

wasted no time in signing Sharma (on loan), making it his second-stint with the team. Regaining his starting place in the I-League, Air India performed well and Sharma was said to have single-handed rescued the team on numerous occasions.

Salgaocar SC

Observing his fantastic display,

Salgaocar SC Salgaocar Football Club is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Vasco da Gama, Goa, Vasco, Goa, that competes in the Goa Professional League. They have also played in the I-League, then top flight of Indian footba ...

did not think twice before bringing the Bengali lad to Goa from

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed ...

. The green outfit were said to have the best keeper combination in the league with Karanjit Singh and Arnab Das Sharma in the same team. In a match against former club East Bengal, an error by Sharma which allowed East Bengal's Australian striker Tolgay Ozbey to score led to an argument between him and Salgaocar's Moroccan coach Karim Bencherifa.

United Sikkim FC

After having a disastrous year in Goa, sharma had offers from a few I-League and a few Kolkata-based clubs but he opted to join

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind India ...

outfit United Sikkim FC, the team owned by iconic footballer

Baichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often n ...

and sponsored by Bollywood playback singer

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. Personal life and early career Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a T ...

and Dubai-based company Fidelis World.

Mohammedan Sporting Club

In January 2012 he signed to Mohammedan Sporting Club from Kolkata for 2nd Division I-league.

Mohun Bagan Athletics Club

In June 2015, he signed to Mohun Bagan Athletics Club from Kolkata for 1st Division I-league.

References

External links

* http://www.indianfootball.com/en/statistic/player/detail/playerId/83 * http://goal.com/en-india/people/india/21097/arnab-das-sharma {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Arnab Das Indian footballers 1987 births Living people I-League players United Sikkim FC players People from Howrah district Footballers from West Bengal Men's association football goalkeepers Mohun Bagan AC players East Bengal Club players Calcutta Football League players Air India FC players Salgaocar FC players Mohammedan SC (Kolkata) players Mumbai Tigers FC players Indian Super League players ATK (football club) players Mumbai City FC players RoundGlass Punjab FC players Odisha FC players Gokulam Kerala FC players