Next Gen Cup Will Help Us Improve Ourselves: Bengaluru FC's Sharon Padattil

Goalkeeper Sharon Padattil, who is displaying his worth while plying his trade for the Bengaluru FC youth team in the ongoing Premier League Next Generation Cup, feels that the tournament will help them in gaining more experience and improve themselves.

Padattil has established himself as one of the important players in the BFC youth set up for the last two seasons, helping the club win the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) in back-to-back editions.

Born in Kerala, Padattil began his youth career at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), in Thiruvananthapuram. He signed for Bengaluru FC in 2019, joining their youth team and has gone on to make a name for himself.

The young goalkeeper has been part of Bengaluru FC's senior team for two Indian Super League seasons from 2021-23. During this time, Padattil also won the first major trophy of his professional career when the Blues lifted the Durand Cup 2022 title.

The youngster spoke to indiansuperleague.com in an exclusive interaction about the ongoing Premier League Next Generation Cup, his experience of training with the Bengaluru FC first team, learning from India international Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, and more.

"This tournament (PL Next Gen Cup) is a good opportunity for us and we will gain more experience. We are playing against some good clubs abroad. We are getting good game time and facing match situations which will help us improve ourselves," Padattil told indiansuperleague.com.

The goalkeeper also spoke about his experience of training with the Bengaluru FC first team.

"It was a good experience training with the senior players and coaches. They encouraged me and I have learnt so many things from the senior players while being part of the first team," he said.

Asked about his learning from India international Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Padattil said he will try to implement his lesson in the matches.

"Gurpreet bhai is the number one goalkeeper in India. I learnt something from him in every training session. Whatever I have learnt, I try to implement in the matches. It's a good thing because I'm training with a top level goalkeeper, so I'm very happy," he said.

Bengaluru FC put on a good show in the last edition of the PL Next Gen Cup in England, however, the 23-year old is currently focusing on the ongoing tournament.

"We are focusing on this tournament. We are working harder and giving our 100 percent. We are trying to dominate the games and keep up the fighting spirit. We can do much better," said Padattil.