Raju Gaikwad
Raju Eknath Gaikwad (born 25 September 1990) is an Indian footballer who plays as a defender for SC East Bengal in the Indian Super League.[1] Gaikwad primarily plays as a centre back, but can also play as a full back and is a long throw specialist.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Raju Eknath Gaikwad | ||
| Date of birth | 25 September 1990 | ||
| Place of birth | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team  | East Bengal | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Tata Football Academy | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | 
| 2010–2011 | Pailan Arrows | 14 | (1) | 
| 2011–2015 | East Bengal | 64 | (3) | 
| 2014 | → Mumbai City (loan) | 3 | (0) | 
| 2015–2017 | Goa | 23 | (0) | 
| 2016 | →Mohun Bagan (loan) | 8 | (0) | 
| 2017 | →Mohun Bagan (loan) | 6 | (0) | 
| 2017–18 | Mumbai City | 15 | (0) | 
| 2018-2019 | Jamshedpur | 5 | (1) | 
| 2019–2020 | Kerala Blasters | 12 | (0) | 
| 2021– | SC East Bengal | 12 | (0) | 
| National team‡ | |||
| 2011–2013 | India U23 | 4 | (0) | 
| 2011– | India | 23 | (0) | 
| 
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:49, 2 January 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16:18, 6 October 2014 (UTC)  | |||
Career
    
    Pailan Arrows
    
After spending time at Tata Football Academy Gaikwad signed for Pailan Arrows (then AIFF XI) in the I-League. He made his league debut for the club on 3 December 2010 against Prayag United at the Salt Lake Stadium which was also Pailan Arrows's first ever game in the I-League; Pailan lost 2–1.[2]
East Bengal
    
In July 2011 Gaikwad signed for East Bengal after one season at Pailan and made his debut for the club on 4 February 2012 after missing the first few months of the season through injury.[3]
Mohun Bagan A.C.
    
In June 2015 Gaikwad signed for Mohun Bagan from rival club East Bengal.[4]
Kerala Blasters
    
Kerala Blasters signed Raju as a replacement for Sandesh Jhingan in the 2019–20 ISL season.[5]
International
    
Gaikwad made his debut for the India U23 on 23 February 2011 against Myanmar's U23s in the 2012 Olympic Qualifiers; India U23 won 2–1.[6] He then made his senior debut for India on 21 March 2011 in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers against Chinese Tapei at the MBPJ Stadium in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia; India won 3–0.[7] Gaikwad then won his first championship with India on 11 December 2011 when he helped India beat Afghanistan in the 2011 SAFF Cup.[8] Gaikwad then went on to lead India to win the 2012 Nehru Cup when India managed to beat Cameroon's B team on 2 September 2012 at the Nehru Stadium in the Indian capital, Delhi.[9]
Career statistics
    
    Club
    
Statistics accurate as of 30 November 2021[10]
| Club | Season | Division | League | Federation Cup | Others | AFC | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Pailan Arrows | 2010–11 | I-League | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | 
| East Bengal | 2011–12 | I-League | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 
| 2012–13 | I-League | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 1 | |
| 2013–14 | I-League | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | — | 29 | 0 | |
| 2014–15 | I-League | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| East Bengal Total | 31 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 70 | 1 | ||
| Mumbai City (loan) | 2014 | Indian Super League | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | 
| Mohun Bagan | 2015–16 | I-League | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 
| FC Goa (loan) | 2015 | Indian Super League | 14 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | 0 | 
| Mumbai City | 2017–18 | Indian Super League | 15 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | 0 | 
| Jamshedpur FC | 2018–19 | Indian Super League | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | 
| Kerala Blasters FC | 2019–20 | Indian Super League | 12 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | 0 | 
| East Bengal | 2020–21 | Indian Super League | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | 
| 2021–22 | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| East Bengal Total | 16 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 118 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 163 | 1 | ||
- Appearances in Calcutta Premier Division.
 - 4 Apps in Calcutta Premier Division and 5 Apps in 2012 IFA Shield.
 
National team statistics
    
Statistics accurate as of 6 May 2015[11]
| India national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | 
| 2011 | 9 | 0 | 
| 2012 | 8 | 0 | 
| 2013 | 4 | 0 | 
| 2014 | 2 | 0 | 
| Total | 23 | 0 | 
Honours
    
- East Bengal
 
- Federation Cup: 2012
 - Calcutta Football League: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15
 - IFA Shield (1): 2012
 
- Mohun Bagan
 
References
    
- "ISL: Odisha FC come from behind to beat SC East Bengal in 10-goal thriller". Hindustan Times. 1 December 2021. Archived from the original on 1 December 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
 - Sengupta, Rahul. "I-League: Three Points For Chirag As AIFF XI Rue Missed Opportunities". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
 - Lahiri, Debjit. "East Bengal 1-1 Mohun Bagan – Odafa's Solo Effort Rescues A Point For The Mariners". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
 - "kolkatafootball.com|afc cup 2021|afc hampions league 2021|indian football transfer news 2020|Indian live football". kolkatafootball.com.
 - Sportstar, Team. "ISL 2019-20: Raju Gaikwad joins Kerala Blasters". Sportstar. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
 - "India U23 2-1 Myanmar". The Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
 - "India 3-0 Chinese Tapai". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
 - Bali, Rahul. "India 4-0 Afghanistan: The Men In Blue Successfully Defend Their SAFF Championship Title". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
 - "India beat Cameroon to win third successive Nehru Cup title". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
 - "India - R. Gaikwad - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
 - Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Raju Gaikwad". www.national-football-teams.com.