Meet Ranjit Bajaj: The Man Who is Single Handedly Changing the Face of Indian Football

Who said there is no Talent in Indian Football? Who said Indian Grassroot Football Talent is lacking big time to compete with other clubs?

All those questions have been answered silently by one Man and his visionary team Ranjit Bajaj who successfully led his club to perform exceptionally well in all distinct tournaments including the likes of – Gothia Cup, Dana Cup, Norway Cup and Helsinki Cup.

Before we dwell much further into performance of the club let me share few things about Coach Ranjit Bajaj.

1. He hails from Chandigarh and started Minerva Punjab Football Club.

2. He also played for India and lead India in Under 19 tournaments.

3. He has also faced criticism for his brash approach when during the match he passed racial comment on official.

4 He was also member of All India Football Federation where he was later dropped from the committee in 2017-18.

5. He has been outspoken when it comes to criticizing Indian Football Policies and all the loopholes surrounding ISL and AIFF.

Let’s talk about Minerva Punjab FC brilliant performances in last one season to be shared in the below format:

They have played 1 month of club level competitions probably touted as one of the most important leagues in the world.

They have won back to back competitions including the likes of- Gothia Cup, Dana Nations Cup, Norway Cup and Helsinki Cup where they didn’t win but literally tore them apart in tatters where they scored 50 goals in Gothia, 110 goals in Dana Nations Cup, 130 Goals for Norway Cup and literally dominated some of the best teams including beating Norway where they scored 14-1.

When it comes to Gothia Cup they defeated Argentina by 4-1.

Coach Ranjit Bajaj Brilliantly described the reactions from Norway people who came to him and congratulated him and said “Never Knew India could play this type of football”.

The sad part all those expenses be it player travelling, staying all accommodation was taken care by Coach Ranjit Bajaj where he took loan around 65 Lakh for these trips no support from government, federation and sponsors.

Thankfully due to social media, people are realizing the worth of Indian football if systems are put in place it can literally change the fortune of Indian Football.

Coach Ranjit Bajaj and his team has shown if coach is good, systems are in place you would literally see them flying in huge colors.

Coach Ranjit Bajaj have already pointed out the problems in ISL and Indian Football let me decode it for you in simple terms to be shared in the below format:

1. There is no concept of Promotion and Relegation unlike European Football, if teams in ISL(India’s Top Tier League) is not playing well and showcasing disappointing results, then all the teams who are doing well in I-League must be promoted to ISL.

2. The Quality of player development from grassroot level is dead.

3. ISL have everything stadiums, rules and regulations and footballer from India as well as overseas but one thing they are missing big time is the quality of Football which is poor as per standards.

4. ISL have been created by AIFF just to earn money no investments is done on grassroot developments to yield results and produce future stars.

5. Indian players some of those who are exceptionally talented is getting huge amount doesn’t want to play for Europeans clubs.

6. Different countries including the likes of- Iran, Bahrain always send their teams for foreign tours also their players in European clubs have elevated the standard when they play for National team this is the biggest weaklink for Indian Football team.

7. Lastly, Corruption in Federation and too much focus on keeping power rather than developing players and working towards the betterment of Indian Football.

There are several solutions but two things which are extremely important:

1. Allowing Overseas Indian Players and Person of Indian Origin to play for the National team to uplift the standard of Indian football.

2. Allowing System to built in place so that players coming up grassroot level should come to the top and play for country.

3. The corruption should be eradicated  big time so that focus should be shifted in Player’s development where they could deliver big time to the best of his ability.

Let’s see whether Indian Football would change going forward or not.

There is so much talent in Indian football but only problem is to fix system if that is not done we would never see Indian Football growing big time otherwise the conditions would remain the same for them.

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