>Lancepark at 10:48, 3 October 2021

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{{short description|Indian footballer}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Abhishek Ambekar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Abhishek Ambekar
| image =
| fullname = Abhishek Ambekar
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1991|8|11|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Abhishek Ambekar|url=http://i-league.org/?tb_player=abhishek-ambekar|work=I-League|access-date=10 November 2012}}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Santacruz, Mumbai|Santacruz]], [[Mumbai]], [[India]]
| height = 
| currentclub = [[East Bengal FC|East Bengal]]
| clubnumber = 27
| position = [[Defender (association football)|winger/wingback]]
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 = 2012–2013
| clubs1 = [[Air India FC|Air India]]
| caps1 = 3
| goals1 = 0
| years2 = 2013–2014
| clubs2 = [[Mumbai Tigers F.C.|Mumbai Tigers]]
| caps2 = 0
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 2014–2015
| clubs3 = [[Mumbai F.C.|Mumbai FC]]
| caps3 = 0
| goals3 = 0
| years4 = 2017–2018
| clubs4 = [[Minerva Punjab F.C.|Minerva Punjab]]
| caps4 = 17
| goals4 = 0
| years5 = 2018–2019
| clubs5 = [[Mohun Bagan A.C.|Mohun Bagan]]
| caps5 = 15
| goals5 = 0
| clubs6 = [[East Bengal FC|East Bengal]]
| caps6 = 22
| goals6 = 0
| years6 = 2019–2021
| nationalyears1 =
| nationalteam1 =
| nationalcaps1 =
| nationalgoals1 =
| pcupdate = 12:51, 16 December 2020 (UTC)
| ntupdate =
}}

'''Abhishek Ambekar''' (born 11 August 1991) is an [[India]]n [[association football|footballer]] who currently plays as a [[Defender (association football)|Wing back]] for [[East Bengal FC|East Bengal]] in the [[Indian Super League]].

==Career==
===Early career===
He began playing football in school, [[Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School]], [[Thane]] and represented his school team and his college and state team later. He was roped into the [[Air India FC]] under-19 team, coached by former Indian player [[Godfrey Pereira]], who is also from [[Santacruz, Mumbai|Santacruz]].<ref name="Asianage"/>

===Air India===
The winger eventually graduated to Air India's senior team. Ambekar made his debut for [[Air India FC]] of the [[I-League]] on 7 October 2012 coming on as a 54th-minute substitute for [[Ong Lepcha]]; Air India lost 5–1.<ref>{{cite web|title=Prayag United 5-1 Air India: Ranti Martins’ hat-trick grounds the Airmen|url=http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/93651/prayag-united-vs-air-india/report|work=Goal.com|access-date=10 November 2012}}</ref>

===Career pitfalls===
[[Air India FC]] couldn't play in the [[I-League]] further as it didn't satisfy the [[Asian Football Confederation]] norms, according to the [[All India Football Federation]]. But this didn't hinder Ambekar's career as he joined the newly-floated [[Mumbai Tigers]], which had players like [[Steven Dias]], [[Paresh Shivalkar]] under coach [[Bimal Ghosh]], who helped Ambekar improve his game. But the club also couldn't survive for long. He joined [[Mumbai F.C.|Mumbai FC]] and later got a job with the [[Reserve Bank of India]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Unrest & rewards|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/sport/football/unrest-rewards/articleshow/63251904.cms|work=mumbaimirror}}</ref> The job rules didn't allow him to play at the professional level but he preferred [[Reserve Bank of India|RBI]] as it offered job security.
During that time he played for Maharashtra in [[Santosh Trophy]].<ref name="Asianage"/><ref>{{cite web|title=MAHARASHTRA KEEP SEMIS-HOPE ALIVE AFTER A NARROW WIN OVER PUNJAB|url=https://www.the-aiff.com/news-center-details.htm?id=7983|work=theaiff.com}}</ref>

Later Ambekar was handed a lifeline by RBI, who agreed to release players and encouraged sportspersons to continue playing. It was what he had been waiting for. At the cost of risking his progress at work, Ambekar started sniffing at opportunities to play in the big leagues again. That chance came at fledgling side [[Minerva Punjab F.C.|Minerva]], who had finished 9th of 10 teams on their [[I-League]] debut [[2016-17 I-League|last season]].

===Minerva Punjab===
In 2017 he joined [[Minerva Punjab F.C.|Minerva Punjab]]. He made his debut for Minerva on 25 November 2017 in [[I-League]] match against [[Mohun Bagan]] at [[Guru Nanak Stadium]], [[Ludhiana]] as he played full match and his team drew the match 1-1.<ref>{{cite web|title=Minerva 1-1 Mohun Bagan|url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2017/11/25/india/i-league/india-minerva-fc/mohun-bagan-ac/2683962/|work=soccerway|access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref> He became an inevitable ingredient of the side which eventually won the silverware. The [[I-League]] title triumph gave Ambekar's CV a necessary kick which was missing earlier in his career.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/sports/i-league-2017-18-minerva-punjab-possess-right-kind-of-balance-to-become-champions-4322425.html|title=I-League 2017-18: Minerva Punjab possess right kind of balance to become champions|date=28 January 2018|publisher=Firstpost}}</ref>
{{quote box|width=33%|align=right|quote=" It was a great experience playing for Minerva and we ended up winning the title after a hard fought season. It was the pre-season practice and team bonding that finally led Minerva to victory. It really boosted our careers"|source=—Ambekar on winning [[I-League]]<ref name="Asianage">{{cite news|url=http://www.asianage.com/sports/football/030718/abhishek-ambekar-excited-to-be-playing-in-kolkata.html|title=Abhishek Ambekar excited to be playing in Kolkata|publisher=Theasianage}}</ref>}}

==Career statistics==
===Club===
''Statistics accurate as of 3 November 2020''<ref>{{soccerway|abhishek-ambekar/523810}}</ref>


{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:center;"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!rowspan="2"|Division
!colspan="2"|League
!colspan="2"|Cup
!colspan="2"|[[Asian Football Confederation|AFC]]
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
|-
| rowspan="1"| [[Air India FC|Air India]]
|[[2012-13 I-League|2012–13]]
|rowspan="4"|[[I-League]]||3||0||0||0||—||—||—||—||3||0
|-
| rowspan="1"|[[Minerva Punjab F.C.|Minerva Punjab]]
|[[2017-18 I-League|2017–18]]
|16||0||1||0||—||—||—||—||17||0
|-
| rowspan="1"|[[Mohun Bagan A.C.|Mohun Bagan]]<ref name="Bagan">{{cite web|date=2 May 2018|title=I-League 2018: Mohun Bagan name Henry Kisekka, Abhishek Ambekar in squad, Akram Moghrabi and Cameron Watson left out|url=https://m.sportskeeda.com/football/i-league-2018-mohun-bagan-name-henry-kisekka-abhishek-ambekar-in-squad-akram-moghrabi-and-cameron-watson-left-out|publisher=sportskeeda}}</ref>
|[[2018-19 I-League|2018–19]]
|15||0||0||0||—||—||—||—||15||0
|-
| rowspan="2"|[[East Bengal F.C.|East Bengal]]
|[[2019-20 East Bengal F.C. season|2019–20]]
|10||0||2{{efn|name="Durand"|Appearances in [[Durand Cup]]}}||0||—||—||8{{efn|name="CFL"|Appearances in [[Calcutta Premier Division]]}}||—||20||0
|-
|[[2020-21 SC East Bengal season|2020–21]]
|rowspan="1"|[[Indian Super League]]||4||0||0||0||—||—||—||—||4||0
|-
! colspan="3" | Career total
!48!!0!!3!!0!!0!!0!!8!!0!!59!!0
|}

{{notelist}}

==Honours==
===Club===
;Minerva Punjab<ref>{{cite news|title=Minerva Punjab crowned I-League champions|url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/report/minerva-punjab-crowned-i-league-champions-india-football/20180308.htm|access-date=16 April 2018|work=Rediff|date=8 March 2018}}</ref>
*[[I-League]]: [[2017–18 I-League|2017–18]]
;[[Mohun Bagan A.C.|Mohun Bagan]]
*[[Calcutta Football League]] (1): [[2018–19 Calcutta Premier Division|2018–19]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Mohun Bagan Win Calcutta Football League After Eight Years|url=https://sports.ndtv.com/football/mohun-bagan-win-calcutta-football-league-after-eight-years-1915623|work= sports.ndtv.com|access-date= 15 September 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{East Bengal F.C. squad}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambekar, Abhishek}}
[[Category:Indian footballers]]
[[Category:1991 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Footballers from Mumbai]]
[[Category:I-League players]]
[[Category:SC East Bengal players]]
[[Category:Association football fullbacks]]
[[Category:RoundGlass Punjab FC players]]
[[Category:Mumbai Tigers FC players]]
[[Category:Mumbai FC players]]
[[Category:Mohun Bagan AC players]]

Abhishek Ambekar - Revision history

>Lancepark at 10:48, 3 October 2021