Sufiyan Shaikh Selected As Vice Captain Of Maharashtra State Team

Sharveya Parasnis
Pune, 7th January 2023: Sufiyan Shaikh, a 20-year-old football player from Akola has been selected as the Vice-Captain for the Maharashtra state team that will be competing in the prestigious Santosh Trophy football competition this year. Shaikh, who plays as a midfielder, has been selected for the team for the second time.

Sufiyan comes from a family of football players. His grandfather had previously played for the Santosh Trophy while his father was the captain of the Maharashtra Police football team. Originally from Akola, Sufiyan trained at the Krida Prabodhini football academy in Balewadi, Pune.

Shaikh was selected for the team after an inter-district tournament, where he excelled and was awarded Man of The Tournament, having scored 7 goals across 4 matches. He was selected alongside the top 35 players of the tournament, after which he attended a football camp where only the top 22 were selected. He and his team will be representing the state in their first match of the tournament against Madhya Pradesh at 3:30 pm. They will be coached by Steven Dias, a former international footballer.

Sufiyan is optimistic about their upcoming matches and expressed confidence in his team and his squad.