Published : 30 Apr 2022, 05:50 AM
They were known as the 'trio' of the golden era of Indian Football – PK Banerjee, Chuni Goswami and Tulsidas Balaram- each playing for different clubs in Kolkata, but donning the national shirt, the trio scored 20 of India's 36 international goals between 1958 and 1962, seven of them coming from Chuni Goswami.
PK Banerjee passed away in Kolkata after battling a prolonged illness on Mar 20, 2020, at the age of 83. Dealing a double blow to Indian football fans, Chuni Goswami breathed his last a few weeks later on Apr 30, 2020, at a Kolkata hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was 82.
In a playing career spanning from 1954 to 1968, Chuni Goswami won a reputation as one of the finest ballplayers ever produced by India, with his dribbling skills, shrewd passing and immaculate ball control setting him apart from other great players of his time. His great specialities were his sudden body swerves and ability to find spaces in small areas which left opposing defenders off-guard.
Goswami's talents were spotted very early in his life and were slowly and surely groomed for bigger things to come. He played for the senior Mohun Bagan team for the first time when he was sixteen against Eastern Railway. He soon became to be noticed in the football circles of India and made his debut for Bengal in the prestigious national championship Santosh Trophy tournament in 1956. In the final against Mysore, PK Banerjee won the winning goal from a smart pass provided by Chuni Goswami.
Although he was overlooked for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics (which greatly saddened him), Chuni Goswami was chosen for India to play in Tokyo Asian Games in 1958. From then onwards, there was no looking back and his place on the national side was secure till his retirement. He played in the 1960 Rome Olympics. His greatest triumph as skipper of the national side came in the 4th Asian Games in Jakarta when India bagged the gold medal beating South Korea 2-1 in the final. Goswami scored twice in the 3-2 victory against Vietnam in the semi-final. He also led the national side in the 1964 Asian Games where India finished runner-up and also the Merdeka tournament the same year. PK Banerjee had said about Chuni's prolific goal-scoring and goal-setting prowess, "My friend Chuni had everything. Shooting, dribbling, powerful head, sprint and positional sense."
Chuni Goswami remained a one-club player all his life. He led his beloved Mohun Bagan club for five consecutive seasons between 1960 and 1964 and won 10 league titles. His greatest triumphs were in the Durand Tournament with Mohun Bagan playing in every final between 1959 and 1965 and winning in six of them. Chuni Goswami led the club on five occasions in those victories.
Cricket was Chuni Goswami's other great passion, playing for Bengal in 1962 when he was also playing football in the Mohun Bagan shirt. Playing in 46 first-class matches as an all-rounder, he led Bengal to the Ranji Trophy final in 1971-72 losing to Mumbai by 246 runs. His most notable achievement came in a match against the West Indies led by Sir Garfield Sobers. Playing for a combined East and Central Zone team in 1966, Goswami took eight wickets in the match to defeat the visiting side. Goswami won a mention in Sir Sobers' memoir.
I had met this great footballing icon once (on two occasions to be precise). During my days with BBC World Service Radio (Bangla), I did a series in the mid-1990s on some great footballing personalities of West Bengal and Bangladesh. They included, among others, Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, Surojit Sengupta, Zakaria Pintoo, Pratap Hazra and Golam Sarwar Tipu. Accompanied by senior sports journalist Gautam Bhattacharya, I went to meet Chuni Goswami in the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata where he had his office as a senior sports official of the West Bengal Government.
He spoke very passionately about his football career. He really opened his heart out and also mentioned some events not many people are really aware of. He also spoke of his grievances and grudges as well. It was a very enlightening and thought-provoking interview. After thanking him for his time, I had gone to interview Surojit Sengupta. I thought to myself, I had a very useful day. The same evening, Chuni Goswami called me, addressing me as 'Das Shaheb' – the first and I think the only time somebody addressed me as such. I was a bit taken aback after getting his call. Chuni Goswami thanked me for the interview which he said he also enjoyed. He invited me for lunch the following day. We had a very enjoyable lunch at Calcutta Club and during our conversation, he made an earnest request to me. He said that he became very emotional while giving the interview and said so many things which are best left within us. He did not want old wounds to surface while he was alive. I fully understood what he exactly meant and assured him that as dictated by journalistic ethics those particular parts of the interview will not be broadcast. I was fortunate to speak to Chuni Goswami on several occasions after that for radio interviews on world football. He used to keep himself updated on world footballing events and his knowledge of international football was astounding.
Chuni Goswami won national accolades winning the Arjuna Award in 1963 and Padma Shri in 1983. The Indian Postal Department issued a commemorative stamp in his honour in January 2020 on his 82nd birth anniversary. Only two other footballers were bestowed with this distinction and honour in the past – Gostho Paul and Talimeren Ao.
Chuni Goswami was a much-revered figure. Not only did he have millions of followers and fans, but he was also equally respected by his colleagues. The only surviving member of the great trio, Tulsidas Balaram, while paying tribute to this great legend, said, "I have lost a great friend. Football lost a great footballer ……. He (Chuni) was so good. He was an automatic choice in the Indian team. Nobody was there to substitute him."
Chuni Goswami is no more, but his legend lives on.