Akhil Rawat
AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: October 10, 2021 was a bittersweet day for Farukh Choudhary. In a must-win game against Nepal in the SAFF Championship, he delivered a crucial assist for Sunil Chhetri to score the winning goal in the 82nd minute. But at that moment, he would never have foreseen he'd have to wait over three years to don the India blue again.

An anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered in the same match ruled him out of the football pitch for over a year. India went on to win the SAFF Championship title in Maldives as his teammates carried his number 12 jersey in the celebrations.

"I believe that life has given me a chance to rise higher than ever and I'm going to be back stronger than ever," Farukh had stated after the injury.

Last Saturday was the beginning of his comeback. 1099 days after his previous appearance for the country, Farukh didn't just make the starting eleven, but also scored the important equaliser in the friendly against Vietnam in Nam Định. A proper poacher's finish - getting in behind the centre-back and lobbing the ball above the onrushing keeper. That's the kind of instinct and composure you need when you're desperate for a goal. It was only India's third goal of the year 2024.

"It feels really good personally. I wasn't part of the national team for so long. I was giving my best at club level. And to be back and make a difference here feels amazing," said the 27-year-old.

Farukh isn't a youngster making his way through the ranks. But in a way, it does feel like a second debut for him. He is a highly-experienced forward at the international level for the nation, having made his India debut in the 2018 SAFF Championship. He has played under three different coaches - Stephen Constantine, who handed him his debut, Igor Stimac, under whom he scored his first India goal and won his first trophy, and now Manolo Márquez, who trusted him to don the national colours again. Farukh repaid the trust by scoring India's first goal in Márquez's tenure.

"I was working towards my comeback. I always knew that eventually I will make it to the national team again," said Farukh.

"And when I say that I knew I would make it, it's not out of arrogance. It was the belief. I knew if I perform in ISL, I'll get a call-up for the camp. And then when I join the camp, it's up to me to make a place in the first eleven."

Whatever Márquez saw in the five days of training in Vietnam was enough to impress him and give him a place in the starting line-up.

"The entire last three years, I was preparing for it. I wasn't desperate, but I knew that with time, it would come. I didn't play many games for Jamshedpur FC due to injury. Last year, I played some games but didn't score many goals. So it didn't make sense for me to be part of the national camp. Now that I have scored two goals (in the ISL), got a call-up, scored here also, I think it is a good run for me individually," said Farukh.

Immediately after scoring the goal, Farukh pointed to the bench, dedicating his goal to his teammates, and especially, physiotherapist Gigy George, who played a big role in Farukh's recovery from the ACL injury.

"Gigy sir has supported me a lot. I had promised him that whenever I score a goal, I'll come to you. But obviously, we were chasing the game and after the equaliser, wanted to restart quicker, so I didn't have time to go to the bench but I pointed there to my teammates, Aakash (Sangwan), Nikhil (Poojary), Rahul (Bheke), all these guys, and specially Gigy sir," shared Farukh.