A ‘ballplayer’ with exceptional talent

When in 1982 Mohun Bagan signed Krishanu Dey, a lot of frowns welcomed the decision. The reason was simple. The five-and-something boy, then...

When in 1982 Mohun Bagan signed Krishanu Dey, a lot of frowns welcomed the decision. The reason was simple. The five-and-something boy, then just 20, was a frail midfielder who no one thought had the ability to help the cause of the high-flying club.

But just four seasons down, Krishanu was leading the national side. It was the 1986 Asia Cup qualifiers and Krishanu, pretty much a midfield ‘general’ of sorts, led the team from the front. And it was around this time that he forged a partnership with attacking mid-fielder Bikash Panji, a partnership that was as famous and effective in the Kolkata circuit as the Jo-Paul Ancheri-IM Vijayan partnership a decade later. Notably, Dey also captained the Indian team in the Merdeka Cup.

The Dey-Panji duo switched their loyalties to East Bengal soon after the tournament and stayed there together till the mid-90s, before shifting together to the recently-created Food Corporation of India (FCI) soccer team for a substantial sum of money. Dey also played for Calcutta Port Trust, apart from the two Kolkata giants.

Story continues below this ad

What set Dey apart from the rest of the Bengal midfielders was a gift of dribbling. He was a ballplayer par excellence. A favourite sight for East Bengal supporters through the early part of the ninties was Dey with the ball just after the centre circle surrounded by opposition defenders. A hot contest would ensue with Krishanu eventually finding an angle to push the ball through to a waiting Panji or Cheema Okorie.

Usually, by the way, with his left foot, something that prompted supporters to call him the ‘Maradona of Bengal’.

Dey was an opportunistic striker himself, and often played just behind the front duo. But it was around the midfield region that he found himself at his most potent.

Once the darling of the masses, the best Indian player of his generation didn’t have such a good time of it after the end of his playing career. He continued playing for his employers’ but his career ended prior to the multinational season in Indian football. As a result, one of the most talented footballers of his time missed out on the National League.

Story continues below this ad

In the end, the doubts expressed by Mohun Bagan club members in 1982 finally found a basis. The body, still frail, was hit by a cardiac arrest for the second time in recent times. One of the members of Indian football’s Hall Of Fame, Deywas a rare talent. The sort that, with international-class fitness regimes and diets, could well have made a name beyond the Kolkata Maidan where he began and ended his career.