Seeing Ronaldinho's game made me fall in love with football: Ritwik Das

NEW DELHI: Ritwik Kumar Das has revolutionised his reputation from a young prodigy to one of the nation's best wingers over the past couple of Indian Super League (ISL) seasons.

Since joining Jamshedpur FC, Das has become a key player for the club, scoring important goals and also creating chances for his teammates. In his first season with the Red Miners, he scored four goals and provided one assist in 17 appearances, helping the club win their first-ever League Winners' Shield.

His impressive performances have not gone unnoticed by national team coach Igor Stimac, and he was called up to the Indian national team in May 2022. But the winger had to withdraw from the camp following an injury.

Das' performance in the 2022-23 season was also remarkable, as he scored 6 goals in 18 appearances. He finally made his debut for India on March 2023 against Myanmar.

In an interview with Jamshedpur FC, the Indian international opened up about his grassroots football story and revealed the player he admires the most.

"When I watched the FIFA World Cup in 2006, I saw Ronaldinho play. My father was watching the game and I was very young. Seeing Ronaldinho's game at that time made me fall in love with football," Ritwik told Jamshedpur FC.

Das grew up in the city of Asansol and started playing football at a very young age. He was a talented player who started his journey with local teams before joining the Mohun Bagan Academy in Kolkata.

It was days of sacrifice as Das would travel for five hours every day from his hometown to Kolkata and come back as he pursued football as a career. The midfielder talked about his academy days and shared his remarkable transformation as a player.

"I started my professional youth career when I was 13 or 14 years old. I used to travel for five hours from Asansol to Kolkata with my mom, three to four days a week to attend the training session in Mohun Bagan Academy in Kolkata," the winger stated.

Two years later, he started his professional journey in Kolkata where he played for Calcutta Customs and Kalighat Milan Sangha before being scouted by Real Kashmir FC.

"After spending two years in the Mohun Bagan Academy, I signed for Calcutta Customs and played two seasons there, one season in the first division of the Calcutta Football League (CFL), and one in the Premiere division of the Calcutta Football League (CFL)," Das said.

"Then I moved to Kalighat Milan Sangha, where I spent another two years before moving to Real Kashmir FC in the second division of the I-League. We won the I-League second division and got promoted to the I-League," he added.