TRAU FC's Bidyashagar Singh says being I-League top-scorer an 'amazing feeling'

Bidyashagar Singh’s 24th minute strike on D-day of the I-League 2020-21 campaign against Gokulam Kerala FC gave TRAU FC a crucial lead and hopes of winning the title. But four goals in the last 20 minutes from GKFC turned thing around and Gokulam Kerala went on to lift their maiden I-League trophy. But the team from Imphal can take great pride in their campaign. They were in the title race till the last match and Bidyashagar Singh was the find of the season. The TRAU FC forward scored 12 goals and provided an assist in the 15 matches he played and that propelled him to the Golden Boot and Hero of the League award. He also scored two consecutive hat-tricks against Muhammedan SC and Real Kashmir FC.

In a chat with I-League.org  Bidyashagar Singh said, “For me, it has been a great season with many memorable moments, especially the consecutive hat-trick’s. To be the only Indian to be the outright top scorer in the I-League and create history is an amazing feeling.”

The Manipuri striker is only the fourth Indian to finish as the top scorer after Baichung Bhutia, Raman Vijayan and Sunil Chhetri.

Chhetri, while representing Bengaluru FC had previously shared the golden boot award with Salgaocar’s Darryl Duffy in the 2013-14 campaign, scoring 14 goals. Bhutia and Vijayan won the Golden Boot in the National Football League.

Big things ahead?

The ‘3+1’ foreigners rule seems to have helped the Indian players a lot. The number of foreigners allowed per team in the I-League is now four. One of those four overseas players has to be from an AFC-affiliated country.

The Indian players are getting more opportunities in the I-League and that is reflected in the stats: 115 of the total 216 goals in this year’s league were scored by Indians.

Indian player getting more opportunities in crucial positions up front and in defence can only be good for the growth of Indian football.

The 23 year-old-striker is certainly in the radar of the top clubs in the country.

With Sunil Chhetri on the wrong side of 30 for a footballer and national coach Igor Stimac searching for a new striker, Bidyashagar’s future looks bright; at least if he can continue to give such astonishing performances consistently.