Yumnam Raju, the left-back from Manipur comes with bags of experience having plied his trade with the country’s top I-league and ISL clubs. The solid defender will add steel to our defence this season with his hard-tackling and his technical ability. The 29-year old will be hoping to make the left-back spot his own in the upcoming season with Jamshedpur FC.

Yumnam Raju is having a wonderful time with his new teammates and shares his experiences from the pre-season tour in Thailand.

On the pre-season till now…

Pre-season has been great so far! Everyone’s working hard and giving their 100% to become fit just in time for the ISL. We can’t wait to play in front of the Jamshedpur fans.

On how his experience will help Jamshedpur FC..

I think I know the ISL well enough now having played for NorthEast United and FC Pune City in the past. However, now this a new team, new challenge and I’m raring to go out and perform whenever the team needs me.

On his best memory of the Thailand tour…

We’ve had some good moments on and off the pitch. There has never been a dull moment on the pre-season tour. We’re having a wonderful time, the players are a fun bunch to work with. The best memory I’ve had so far was trying the local Thai delicacies.

On how he got the black-eye…

This happened in Chiang Mai, it was a clash of heads with Robin Gurung during a training drill. However, such things are a part of the game.

The players make the return trip from Bangkok to Jamshedpur with a day’s halt in Kolkata.