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{{Infobox writer
| name = Nikhil Sharma
| birth_name = Nikhil Paramjit Sharma
| image = NikhilParamjitSHWC.jpg
| image_size = 200
| caption = Nikhil Sharma at the [[2018 FIFA World Cup]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1982|5|5}}
| birth_place = [[Chandigarh]], [[Punjab, India]]
| occupation = Author, sports commentator, sports management professional
| language = English
| education = [[Bharati Vidyapeeth]] [[Pune]], [[MICA (institute)|MICA]], [[Ahmedabad]]
| genre = [[Non-fiction]]
| notableworks = India's Football Dream
| website = {{url|www.zlait.com}}
}}
'''Nikhil Sharma''' is an Indian author, [[sports commentator]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Supreme Court Orders Dissolution Of CoA; Will FIFA Lift The Ban On AIFF Now?| date=22 August 2022 |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/videos/supreme-court-orders-dissolution-of-coa;-will-fifa-lift-the-ban-on-aiff-now--the-urban-debate-datasource=-times-now-video-93715303|publisher=Times Now|accessdate=22 August 2022}}</ref> and a [[Sports agent|sports management professional]] known for his knowledge about [[Sports-based youth development|player development]], [[Sport psychology|player psychology]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Sorry Serena, this one time it isn't about discrimination !|url=http://www.zlait.com/2018/09/11/sorry-serena-this-one-time-it-isnt-about-discrimination/|publisher=zlait|accessdate=11 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=How Paul Pogba started fulfilling his potential under new leadership|url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/61H7EzjpEKCUpIuU7WW7yJ/How-Paul-Pogba-started-fulfilling-his-potential-under-new-le.html|publisher=livemint|accessdate=17 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=How Darren Cahill helped Simona Halep overcome mental fragility|url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/zI0i7ELhrvnnu2numQHw2N/How-Darren-Cahill-helped-Simona-Halep-overcome-mental-fragil.html|publisher=livemint|accessdate=5 July 2018}}</ref> league structures<ref>{{cite web|title=Marquee players in Indian Super League: minute by minute|url=https://khelnow.com/news/article/marquee_players_in_indian_super_league_minute_by_minute|publisher=Khel Now|accessdate=1 September 2016}}</ref> and sustainability in sports.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thanks to ISL, business is booming but India's football agents need the professional touch|date=17 November 2017 |url=https://scroll.in/field/858199/thanks-to-isl-business-is-booming-but-indias-football-agents-need-the-professional-touch|publisher=Khel Now|accessdate=17 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Growing investments & global attention to Indian football are creating the perfect storm to transform football into a dominant sport in India|url=http://www.businessworld.in/article/Sports-Football-Fury/03-07-2018-153742/|publisher=Businessworld|accessdate=3 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Financial sustainability crucial for taking Indian football forward: a blueprint|url=http://www.catchnews.com/football-news/financial-sustainability-crucial-for-taking-indian-football-forward-a-blueprint-1464178031.html|publisher=catchnews|accessdate=25 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The future of Sports: Will we get to see major sporting events and tournaments in 2021?|date=2 January 2021 |url=https://www.edexlive.com/news/2021/jan/02/the-future-of-sports-will-we-get-to-see-major-sporting-events-and-tournamentsin-2021-16979.html|publisher=edexlive}}</ref> He co-authored his first book India's Football Dream along with Indian author and [[political analyst]] [[Shantanu Gupta]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Inspirational and informative books for young readers|date=20 November 2020 |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/ht-school/inspirational-and-informative-books-for-young-readers/story-smMDqdmJ8fCYBaiuhCk1pM.html|publisher=Hindustan Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Cup of Convergence|date=18 November 2022 |url=https://openthemagazine.com/cover-stories/the-cup-of-convergence/|publisher=Open}}</ref>

He is the founder and [[chief executive officer]] of a [[New Delhi]]-based sports management company, {{Proper name|zlait Sports Management}} that specialises in sports infrastructure, player representation, technical consultancy, marketing and sponsorship and media advisory.<ref>{{cite web|title=Is Badminton still a hard sell in India?|url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/storyboard18/is-badminton-still-a-hard-sell-in-india/76453/1|work=Forbes India}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=After losing out on the BCCI broadcast rights, what next for Disney Star?|url=https://www.campaignindia.in/article/after-losing-out-on-the-bcci-broadcast-rights-what-next-for-disney-star/491327|work=Campaign India}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Is badminton still a hard sell in India?|date=19 May 2022 |url=https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/sports-trends/storyboard18-x-just-sports-is-badminton-still-a-hard-sell-in-india-8536041.html|publisher=Money Control}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nikhil Sharma Founder-CEO zlait Sports Management|url=http://www.zlait.com/people/|publisher=zlait}}</ref> He is also an [[All India Football Federation|AIFF]], [[Asian Football Confederation|AFC]] and [[FIFA]] licensed football coach.<ref>{{cite web|title=FIFA Youth Course Starts in Kolkata|url=https://www.the-aiff.com/news-center-details.htm?id=7386|publisher=All India Football Federation|accessdate=6 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=FIFA Youth Course Starts in Kolkata|date=11 November 2016 |url=https://wifa.in/afc-gk-level-1-course-results-10th-till-15th-september-2016/|publisher=Western India Football Association|accessdate=11 November 2016}}</ref> Sharma also serves as a faculty for sports communication at Pillai Institute of Management Studies and Research (FIFA/CIES Executive Programme).<ref>{{cite web|title=Nikhil Sharma Faculty Sports Communication|url=https://fifacies.pimsr.ac.in/faculty/nikhil-sharma/|publisher=fifacies.pimsr.ac.in}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Born in [[Chandigarh]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] to Professor Paramjit Sharma and Ragini Sharma, both of whom hail from Chandigarh. He spent the first few years of his childhood in Chandigarh before his family moved to [[Pune]], [[Maharashtra]]. He did his schooling from Vidya Bhavan High School and Loyola Junior College. He has a degree in Production Engineering from [[Bharati Vidyapeeth]], Pune and is an MBA in Marketing from [[MICA (institute)|MICA]], [[Ahmedabad]].<ref>{{cite web|title=MICA hosts a reunion for batch of 2007|url=http://www.mbaclubindia.com/news/mica-hosts-a-reunion-for-batch-of-2007-7708.asp|publisher=MBAclubindia|accessdate=27 November 2017}}</ref>

==Career==

===Corporate career===
Sharma served as the [[chief operating officer]] and later as the chief executive officer at Anglian Management Group, a sports advisory branch of Anglian Omega Group.<ref>{{cite web|title=NBA Sets Out to Conquer Next Big Market: India|url=https://adage.com/article/global-news/nba-sets-sights-potential-market-india/243606|publisher=AdAge|accessdate=13 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Star Sports India Football Forum 2015 makes grand debut in Mumbai|date=31 October 2015 |url=https://www.footballcounter.com/2015/star-sports-india-football-forum-2015-makes-grand-debut-in-mumbai/|publisher=Football Counter|accessdate=31 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Highlights from Star Sports India Football Forum '15|url=http://everythingexperiential.businessworld.in/article/Highlights-from-Star-Sports-India-Football-Forum-15/01-11-2015-103460/|publisher=ee everything experential|accessdate=1 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=India Football Forum 2016: Realising The Long-Term Vision!|date=28 October 2016 |url=http://www.arunfoot.com/india-football-forum-2016-realising-long-term-vision/|publisher=arunfoot|accessdate=28 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=India Football Forum 2016 to discuss game's potential and growth; Vijay Goel to deliver inaugural speech|date=2 November 2016 |url=https://thefangarage.com/articles/7904-india-football-forum-2016-to-discuss-games-potential-and-growth-vijay-goel-to-deliver-inaugural-speech|publisher=The Fan Garage|accessdate=2 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Indian Super League's struggles to cope with its own brainchild - the marquee player|date=8 September 2016 |url=http://www.espn.in/football/indian-super-league/story/2945964/indian-super-league-struggles-to-find-balance-between-signing-quality-marquee-players-and-managing-finances|publisher=ESPN|accessdate=8 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Poorna Malavat, the world's youngest girl from Telangana to scale Mount Everest aims to scale 7 Summits by the end of June 2018|date=27 August 2017 |url=https://cityairnews.com/content/poorna-malavat-worlds-youngest-girl-telangana-scale-mount-everest-aims-scale-7-summits-end|publisher=cityair News|accessdate=27 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sandeep Narang: The coalition entrepreneur|date=8 September 2016 |url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/EWtmC2ayTvPoVCBqJdqO1H/Sandeep-Narang-The-coalition-entrepreneur.html|publisher=livemint|accessdate=9 September 2016}}</ref> He represented the group with interests in [[Shillong]]-based [[I-League]] side [[Shillong Lajong F.C.]] on the board of directors.

In [[2014 Indian Super League|2014]] during the inception of the [[Indian Super League]], Sharma in his capacity of director of Shillong Lajong was part of the consortium to bid for the [[Guwahati]]-based franchise of the ISL. The consortium successfully won the bid for the franchise which was named [[NorthEast United FC|NorthEast United]].<ref>{{cite web|title='It will be a treat for Indian football to have Capdevila' - Ricki Herbert|url=https://www.goal.com/en-india/news/136/india/2014/08/21/5049993/it-will-be-a-treat-for-indian-football-to-have-capdevila|publisher=Goal|accessdate=21 August 2014}}</ref>

In April 2018, Nikhil went on to form his own representation and sports consultancy start-up zlait.<ref>{{cite web|title="zlait" The Idea|url=http://www.zlait.com/2018/06/29/zlait-the-idea/|publisher=zlait|accessdate=29 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Visual & Cultural Transformation Of An Iconic Matunga Basketball Court|url=https://homegrown.co.in/article/803212/st-art-india-s-visual-transformation-of-a-matunga-basketball-court-is-amazing|publisher=Homegrown|accessdate=11 December 2018}}</ref>

===Literary career===
Nikhil co-authored his first book ‘India’s Football Dream’ along with [[Shantanu Gupta]] which was published by [[SAGE Publishing|SAGE Publications India]].<ref>{{cite web|title=India's Football Dream|url=https://www.amazon.in/Indias-Football-Dream-Shantanu-Gupta-ebook/dp/B07NL7MTYY|publisher=amazon}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=India's Football Dream|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43998852-india-s-football-dream|publisher=good reads|accessdate=4 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=India's Football Dream|url=https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/india%E2%80%99s-football-dream/book269116|publisher=SAGE Publishing}}</ref> The foreword for the book was written by India's most decorated footballer [[Sunil Chhetri]]. The book opened to favorable reviews in several media outlets including reviews from [[Praful Patel]], President of the AIFF and [[Gurpreet Singh Sandhu]], [[India national football team]] goalkeeper and first Indian to play in the [[UEFA Europa League]].<ref>{{cite web|title=State of Play|date=20 March 2019 |url=http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/books/state-of-play|publisher=OPEN|accessdate=20 March 2019}}</ref> The book is a modern-day guidebook to Indian football that extensively covers the journey Indian football has made from its inception till the biggest event till date, the [[2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup]].

==Bibliography==
*India's Football Dream (February 2019)

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Nikhil}}
[[Category:1982 births]]
[[Category:English-language Indian writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian male writers]]

Nikhil Paramjit Sharma - Revision history

Raunak Shankhwar: done...