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If I could play ISL at 19, I am sure I can find a team in future: Som Kumar
The 21-year-old goalkeeper speaks on his move to Slovenia, his first India call-up and the journey that began in their living room in Bengaluru
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Everyone in the India squad except Som Kumar is involved in the new season of the Indian Super League (ISL). Once, he was part of it too but his involvement now with the top men’s club competition in India is restricted to following the games of Kerala Blasters.
As the first round of the ISL drew to a close on Wednesday, Kumar was back in Ljubljana training with ND Slovan for Saturday’s game against Rudar Velenje. In terms of following, the grind of 16-team second division league in Slovenia is far removed from ISL but the 21-year-old goalkeeper who idolises Gianluigi Donnarumma is sure he has got his priorities right.
“For me, it was very clear,” he told HT in a video call from his apartment that is three minutes away from the Stozice Stadium where the national team plays. “I think this is the age where you can try and play abroad. I have an opportunity to grow in Europe. So, no, I don’t miss playing in the ISL now.”
After joining on a four-year contract in 2024, Kumar played four games with Kerala Blasters when he got an opportunity to return to central Europe. “When I joined Blasters, it was the best move that I could get. And then, six months in, I had an offer from Europe and it was clear that I wanted to leave. If I could play ISL at 19, I’m sure that I can find a team in the future if needed.”
It is a path Hridaya Jain, a 78th minute substitute for Mumbai City FC against Churchill Brothers on Sunday, has taken. Jain is represented by TRP Sports as is Kumar. And one that Gurpreet Singh Sandhu trod on, moving to Bengaluru FC after three seasons at Stabaek in Norway’s top league. For over three weeks under India’s goalkeepers’ coach Feroz Sherif, Kumar was Sandhu’s understudy at the national camp.
“I got quite close to him. He had also played in Europe, so, I think we had a bit of a bond there because he knew how it is over here. He knows that it's cold. That it’s not easy to be playing in Europe,” said Kumar. “And then, to be in that environment and learn from such an experienced goalkeeper was a really important thing for me.”
Training for India and at his club was different, said Kumar. “At national camps, you don’t have much time. We would have 15-20 minutes with the goalkeepers’ coach and then join the rest of the team. That’s how every national team works. Here, I am working daily with a coach who has played in the Champions League. I am getting better on a daily basis. Right now, that’s all I need.” Kumar trains with former Slovenia keeper Damir Botonjic.
This was his Kumar’s first call-up for India. He didn’t play but in the run-up to the friendlies, India head coach Khalid Jamil had told HT that Kumar had improved since going to Slovenia. “We are looking for this type of player,” Jamil had said.
Kumar was with NK Radomlje in Slovenia’s top tier last term but moved a step down in search of game time. Since January, he has been Slovan’s No.1. But because the second division does not pause for the international break unlike the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top league, he missed four games while he was with India for the friendlies against Panama, Brazil and Uruguay.
The son of former badminton players who live in Bengaluru, Kumar was 14 when he moved to Slovenia, the country of former Inter Milan goalie Samir Handanovic and whose national football team is led by Atletico Madrid keeper Jan Oblak. “I gave a trial with one the clubs and got in,” he said. That was for the youth team of Bravo in the PrvaLiga.
Then, Covid-19 struck and because he was also selected for the India under-15 side, Kumar stayed back in India. He returned to Slovenia, moved clubs and in 2023, joined Olimpija Ljubljana.
Kumar’s Slovene is passable but in Ljubljana nearly everyone speaks English, he said. He enjoys living alone and the easy pace of life in the capital.
It’s been quite the journey for someone who began playing because older brother Ved needed someone to guard “the small plastic goal” in their living room. “I would go on my knees and he would shoot with a cotton ball. Then, it slowly progressed to the garden outside.”
From Mohammed Salim – said to be homesick in the 1930s – through Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chhetri, Subrata Paul and Sandesh Jhingan, Indian footballers have sought a foothold in Europe. No one knows how it will turn out for Kumar but you cannot fault him for not trying.
