Raju Eknath Gaikwad (born 25 September 1990) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a defender for I-League 3 club Diamond Harbour FC. Gaikwad primarily plays as a centre back, but can also play as a full back and is a long throw specialist.

Raju Gaikwad
Personal information
Full name Raju Eknath Gaikwad
Date of birth (1990-09-25) 25 September 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Centre-back / Left back
Team information
Current team
Diamond Harbour FC
Number 47
Youth career
Tata Football Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Pailan Arrows 14 (0)
2011–2015 East Bengal 37 (0)
2014Mumbai City (loan) 3 (0)
2015–2017 Mohun Bagan 14 (0)
2015–2016Goa (loan) 23 (0)
2017–18 Mumbai City 15 (0)
2018-2019 Jamshedpur 5 (0)
2019–2020 Kerala Blasters 12 (0)
2021–2022 East Bengal 19 (0)
2022–2023 Churchill Brothers 12 (1)
2023 Delhi 2 (0)
2024- Diamond Harbour FC 2 (0)
International career
2011–2013 India U23 4 (0)
2011– India 23 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:49, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:18, 6 October 2014 (UTC)

Career

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Pailan Arrows

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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.[1]

East Bengal

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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.[2]

Mohun Bagan A.C.

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In June 2015 Gaikwad signed for Mohun Bagan from rival club East Bengal.[3]

Kerala Blasters

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Kerala Blasters signed Raju as a replacement for Sandesh Jhingan in the 2019–20 ISL season.[4]

International

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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.[5] 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.[6] Gaikwad then won his first championship with India on 11 December 2011 when he helped India beat Afghanistan in the 2011 SAFF Cup.[7] 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.[8]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 11 March 2023[9]
Club Season Division League Cup Other AFC Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Pailan Arrows 2010–11 I-League 14 0 1[a] 0 15 0
East Bengal 2011–12 0 0 3[a] 0 2[b] 0 2[c] 0 12 0
2012–13 9 0 2[a] 0 6[b] 1 3[c] 0 20 1
2013–14 17 0 3[a] 0 9[d] 0 29 0
2014–15 11 0 2[a] 0 3[b] 0 4[c] 0 9 0
East Bengal total 37 0 10 0 20 1 9 0 70 3
Mumbai City
(loan)
2014 Indian Super League 3 0 0 0 3 0
Mohun Bagan 2015–16 I-League 8 0 0 0 6[e][c] 0 14 0
2016–17 6 0 2[a] 0 5[c] 0 13 0
East Bengal total 14 0 2 0 0 0 11 0 27 0
Goa
(loan)
2014 Indian Super League 9 0 0 0 9 0
2015 14 0 0 0 14 0
Goa total 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 0
Mumbai City 2017–18 Indian Super League 15 0 2[f] 0 17 0
Jamshedpur 2018–19 5 0 0 0 5 0
Kerala Blasters 2019–20 12 0 0 0 12 0
East Bengal 2020–21 7 0 0 0 7 0
2021–22 12 0 0 0 12 0
East Bengal total 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 0
Churchill Brothers 2022–23 I-League 12 1 0 0 0 0 12 1
Delhi 2023–24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 154 1 15 0 20 1 20 0 209 2
  1. ^ a b c d e f Appearance(s) in Federation Cup
  2. ^ a b c Appearances in Calcutta Football League
  3. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in AFC Cup
  4. ^ 4 Apps in Calcutta Football League and 5 Apps in 2012 IFA Shield
  5. ^ Appearance(s) in AFC Champions League
  6. ^ Appearance(s) in Super Cup

National team statistics

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Statistics accurate as of 6 May 2015[10]

India national team
Year Apps Goals
2011 9 0
2012 8 0
2013 4 0
2014 2 0
Total 23 0

Honours

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Tata Football Academy

India

East Bengal

Mohun Bagan

Churchill Brothers

  • Baji Rout Cup runner-up: 2022[12]

References

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  1. ^ Sengupta, Rahul. "I-League: Three Points For Chirag As AIFF XI Rue Missed Opportunities". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  2. ^ Lahiri, Debjit. "East Bengal 1-1 Mohun Bagan – Odafa's Solo Effort Rescues A Point For The Mariners". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  3. ^ "kolkatafootball.com|afc cup 2021|af champions league 2021|indian football transfer news 2020|Indian live football". kolkatafootball.com.
  4. ^ Sportstar, Team. "ISL 2019-20: Raju Gaikwad joins Kerala Blasters". Sportstar. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  5. ^ "India U23 2-1 Myanmar". The Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  6. ^ "India 3-0 Chinese Tapai". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  7. ^ Bali, Rahul. "India 4-0 Afghanistan: The Men In Blue Successfully Defend Their SAFF Championship Title". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ Raju Gaikwad at Soccerway
  10. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Raju Gaikwad". www.national-football-teams.com.
  11. ^ Chaudhuri, Arunava (2008). "I-League (under-19) 2008/09". indianfootball.de. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  12. ^ Sports Desk, The Bridge (8 November 2022). "Rajasthan United FC wins 2022 Baji Rout Cup". thebridge.in. The Bridge. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.