Nishant Mehra rejoins Mumbai FC as two-year ban ends

Former Mumbai FC captain Nishant Mehra has rejoined the club following the end of his two-year ban from football. The 29-year-old received a two-year ban for doping in February 2011 but the suspension ended on February 9, 2013 and the midfielder signed up for the Mumbai club on February 14.

Nishant is expected to have his first Mumbai FC training session on Monday and the player clearly can’t wait to get started.

“It feels a relief to be done with this period and now I can look ahead to competing with the best out there,” Nishant told Sportskeeda.

In an exclusive interview to Sportskeeda in December, Nishant had expressed his desire to return to the I-League once his ban ends and thus maintained a disciplined routine to keep himself fit. He is however well aware that it won’t be easy getting into the first team of Mumbai FC.

“As excited as I am to start again I will take things one step at a time. My immediate target is to get back onto the starting eleven at Mumbai FC. It is a very competitive team with seriously committed and talented football players,” he stated.

Nishant might have to wait a bit longer for his I-League debut as the competition is having a one-month break now.

On the Small Screen

The Arsenal fan also appears in the new Pepsi advertisement along with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra.

“A friend of mine who was working on the campaign called me up and asked if I would be interested? As all I would have to do would be to play football and not have to act much I was happy to do it,” Nishant stated.

Having been through a very difficult period in the last two years, he can now look forward to a new beginning in his second spell at Mumbai FC.