->Lancepark at 09:21, 3 December 2021

2021-12-03T09:21:19Z

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{{Short description|Indian footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Bijendra Rai
| image =
| caption =
| fullname =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1992|6|8|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Jorethang]], [[Sikkim]], [[India]]
| height =
| currentclub = IMG RELIANCE
| clubnumber =
| position = [[Midfielder (association football)|Midfielder]]
| youthyears1 = 2010
| youthclubs1 = Nang Kiew Rat
| years1 = 2010–2011
| clubs1 = [[Royal Wahingdoh]]
| years2 = 2011–2012
| clubs2 = [[Pailan Arrows]]
| caps2 = 4
| goals2 = 0
| years3 = 2012–2013
| clubs3 = [[Mohun Bagan A.C.|Mohun Bagan]]
| caps3 = 0
| goals3 = 0
| years4 = 2014–2015
| clubs4 = [[Mohammedan S.C. (Kolkata)|Mohammedan S.C.]]
| caps4 = 0
| goals4 = 0
| years5 = 2016–
| clubs5 = [[Gangtok Himalayan SC]]
| caps5 = 0
| goals5 = 0
| nationalyears1 = 2007–2008
| nationalteam1 = [[India national under-16 football team|India U16]]
| nationalcaps1 = 5
| nationalgoals1 = 1
| pcupdate =
| ntupdate =
}}

'''Bijendra Rai''' (born 8 June 1992) is an [[India]]n [[association football|footballer]] who currently plays in '''IMG RELIANCE'''.

==Early career==
He was born in [[Jorethang]], [[South Sikkim district]]. His father and elder brother were footballers. His father used to play football locally but his brother played for a club in [[Darjeeling]].

He joined [[Gangtok]] State Sports Academy in 2006 and stayed there till 2009. The tag line of the Academy was "Search for more Baichung." he took the name of few coaches who had helped me a lot while in the Academy. They are Hongunorden Lepcha, Suresh Mukhia, and Suren Chhetri.

While in the Academy, he got the chance to play for the [[Sikkim]] U-16 team.<ref>{{cite web|title=Interview of Bijendra Rai|url=http://www.mohunbaganac.com/interview-detail/interview-of-mcdowell-mohun-bagan-midfielder-bijendra-rai|accessdate=5 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223135036/http://www.mohunbaganac.com/interview-detail/interview-of-mcdowell-mohun-bagan-midfielder-bijendra-rai|archive-date=23 February 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Career==
In 2010, he went to [[Shillong]] and joined Nang-Kiew-Rat where he played as a [[striker (association football)|striker]] in the local league.

In the next season, he joined [[Royal Wahingdoh F.C.]] where he played for 4 months. He played in the [[2011 I-League 2nd Division]]. They reached the 2nd phase but could not qualify for the [[I-league]].

He scored 5 goals in that tournament. His best match was against [[Rangdajied United F.C.|Ar-Hima FC]]. In that match, though he scored 2 goals, they lost the 3–2. They trounced [[Southern Samity]] 6–1, where he scored 1 goal.

===Pailan Arrows===
The 2011–12 season got off to a good start for Rai as he made his debut for [[Pailan Arrows]] in the [[2011 Indian Federation Cup]] against [[Mumbai F.C.|Mumbai]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/65446/mumbai-fc-vs-pailan-arrows/lineup-stats| title = Mumbai FC vs Pailan Arrows Lineups and Statistics | accessdate = 31 October 2011 | publisher = goal.com}}</ref> He then made his [[I-League]] debut against [[Hindustan Aeronautics Limited S.C.|HAL SC]] on 2 November 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/69218/pailan-arrows-vs-hal-bangalore/report |title=Pailan Arrows 1-1 HAL – Hamza Wins A Point For The Away Side |publisher=goal.com |date=2011-11-02 |access-date=2011-11-05 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103205644/http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/69218/pailan-arrows-vs-hal-bangalore/report |archivedate=3 November 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

===Eagles===
On 5 December 2013 it was announced that Bijendra has signed up with [[Eagles F.C.]] of [[Kerala]] on loan for 2013–14 season along with [[Nadong Bhutia]], [[Avinabo Bag]], [[Jagroop Singh]], Bisheshwor Singh, [[Biswajit Saha]], [[Ramandeep Singh (footballer)|Ramandeep Singh]] and [[Govin Singh]]. Moreover, IMG-Reliance, the organisers of the proposed IPL-style football tournament Indian Super League, and [[Eagles F.C.]] will facilitate a two to six week training stint for the eight players with UK based [[Reading F.C.]] Academy.<ref>{{cite web|title=Eight IMG-R players to join Kerala football club Eagles FC|url=http://m.timesofindia.com/sports/football/top-stories/Eight-IMG-R-players-to-join-Kerala-football-club-Eagles-FC/articleshow/26914692.cms|access-date=6 December 2013}}</ref>

==International==
In 2007, Coach Collin Toal gave him a chance for the 1st time in the [[India national under-16 football team|U-16 Indian team]], when we went to play in [[Saudi Arabia]] for the AFC qualifying Round. Later on, they went for exposure trips to [[Germany]] and [[England]].

In the [[Gangtok]] Academy, he used to play as a striker, but in the Indian team, he played for the first time as a [[right winger]].

He scored his first goal for U-16 Indian team against [[Sri Lanka]]. He scored the goal within 20 seconds. He placed the ball inside goal from Lalrindika's cross.

Later, he also got a chance in the [[India national under-19 football team|U-19 Indian team]] for an exposure trip to [[Malaysia]] and for a tournament in [[Dubai]], but he missed the tour due to injury at the last moment.

==Career statistics==

===Club===
''Statistics accurate as of 29 December 2011''

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="3"|Cup
!colspan="3"|[[Asian Football Confederation|AFC]]
!colspan="3"|Total
|-
!Apps
!Goals
!Assists
!Apps
!Goals
!Assists
!Apps
!Goals
!Assists
!Apps
!Goals
!Assists
|-
| rowspan="1"| [[Pailan Arrows]]
|[[2011–12 I-League|2011–12]]
|4||0||0||2||0||0||—||—||—||6||0||0
|-
! colspan="2" | Career total
!4!!0!!0!!2!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!6!!0!!0
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Bijendra}}
[[Category:Indian footballers]]
[[Category:1992 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from South Sikkim district]]
[[Category:Footballers from Sikkim]]
[[Category:I-League players]]
[[Category:Indian Arrows players]]
[[Category:Mohun Bagan AC players]]
[[Category:Nepali Indians]]
[[Category:India youth international footballers]]
[[Category:Association football midfielders]]

Bijendra Rai - Revision history

->Lancepark at 09:21, 3 December 2021