National cricketer Shreyas Iyer was his schoolmate at Don Bosco, Matunga Mumbai. He was a left-arm pacer at that time. He still remembers bowling to Iyer. He was promising as a bowler and also has memories of some worthy performances when inter-class competitions were held.
He practiced cricket in the morning, played hockey after noon, and practiced football in the evening.
Finally, Girik Khosla chose to become a professional footballer courtesy of Babin Khosla, his elder brother who represented the country at the junior level and was also a member of Mahindra United.
“My parents asked me to concentrate on one game and watching my elder brother I became passionate about football gradually,” Girik revealed while speaking to Parallel Sports on Wednesday.
Does not he regret leaving cricket even after watching today’s Shreyas Iyer? Girik smiled and said, “Initially, it used to haunt me a bit. The fame and money cricket helps to gain no other sport in India helps to earn that amount of money and fame. But after I became passionate about football, the feelings never came back.”
Girik Khosla today is one of the key strikers of Diamond Harbor FC (DHFC), the Kolkata team that is all set to earn qualification to win the second division I-league this season. Girik is the team’s top scorer so far scoring five goals. DHFC need only one point in their remaining two matches to clinch the second division I-League and Girik is preparing to increase number of his goals in two remaining matches.
The 30-year-old striker expressed huge gratitude to Dronacharya Bimal Ghosh. “He has a huge contribution to building my career. I played as a defensive midfielder. It could not have been possible to become a positive striker with only a 5-fit 7 inches height unless Bimal sir toiled so hard giving hours after hours in the training to turn me into a positive striker. I spent the two seasons with Mumbai Tigers Bimal sir’s tutelage and that was the most important time for me. I learned all the basics and mastered it from Bimal sir,” Girik added.
Girik is also amazed by his DHFC’s Spanish coach Kibu Vikuna style of training and game. “I played under several coaches in the teams like Delhi FC, Real Kashmir, Sreenidhi Decan, and Minerva Punjab. But Kibu sir’s style of play and training is so modern and match with the international standard that you will be able to gain the basics of modern technique,” Girik explained.
The striker has now the only dream of playing for the senior national team regularly and looking forward to the dream Girik has started preparing mentally for the next season.
