nAn encounter with Pradeep Kumar Banerjee, the ace footballer who breathed his last on Friday is like watching a movie being shown on wide screen. He was one of the few quintessential football coaches the country had seen. “As a player, he was the prince of the era and reigned supreme in the maidans. Speed, agile and ball control were his forte,” remembers T K Chathunni, former Indian defender who had represented Bombay’s Orkay Mills and Goa’s Vascoe Club during his playing days.
Chathunni said PK was a loving personality who loved anything about football including the rival team members. “The Salgaonkar team coached by me had beaten East Bengal in the Federation Cup finals held in Kolkata in the early 70s. PK Sir was the coach of East Bengal. Immediately after the match, he was gracious enough to come to us and congratulate each and every member of the Salgaonkar team,” said Chathunni.
The last time PK Daa came to Kerala was in 1985 as the coach of Indian team that played in the Nehru Cup International football match held at Thiruvananthapuram. That was the first time football lovers in Kerala saw Anaadi Barua, a surprise inclusion in the team.
India was pitted against USSR in the opening match of the tournament. The Soviets who were getting readied for the 1986 world cup at Mexico had sent a team that included players like Igor Belanov, Vassly Rats, Andrei Baal and Rinat Dassayev who ultimately made it to the national team that played in Mexico. It seems the Soviets never wanted to leave any stones and unturned in their march to the final. They literally butchered the Indian team 5-0.
“This is all I have to offer as Indian stars,” said PK after the match . The likes of Mauricio Afonso, Parminder Singh, V P Sathyan, Krishanu Dey and Babu Mani stood bewildered as the Sovites mesmerized them with top quality football. “We don’t have players now. What you see here is stars and they are nowhere near the likes of Inder Singh or Subhash Bhowmick,” said PK after the match.
One could feel the pain in his words because he was the player who made the Europeans understand that football is played in India too. “With this kind of stars and administration, I don’t have any hope or dreams,” he said after India’s last match in the tournament in which the hosts failed to score even a single goal. When K Bhaskaran, sports journalist wrote a book on Indian football as part of the Wills Book of Excellence series, he chose PK as his adviser and consultant.
It was a tribute to the man who helped India win the one and only gold medal in Asian Games.
The last time one saw PK in television was in a “promo” shot for Kokata Metro. The fact that the organisers included PK in the short film, wearing his customary green safari suit, was an indication of the respect he commanded in the State. Pradeep Kumar Banerjee is a household name in Kerala’s Kozhikode and Kannur districts known as football cities of the State. Au revoir PK , and thank you for everything