Krishanu Dey

Krishanu Dey (Bengali: কৃশানু দে; 14 February 1962 – 20 March 2003) was an Indian footballer from Kolkata, India.[2] He was an attacking midfielder and was known as the "Indian Maradona" among his fans due to his footballing skills and playing style.[3][4]

Krishanu Dey
Personal information
Date of birth (1962-02-14)14 February 1962
Place of birth Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Date of death 20 March 2003(2003-03-20) (aged 41)
Position(s) Centre-forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1980 Police AC 5 (2)
1980–1982 Calcutta Port Trust 20 (12)
1982–1984 Mohun Bagan 40 (28)
1984–1991 East Bengal 100 (99)
1991–1992 Mohun Bagan 35 (10)
1992–1994 East Bengal 50 (30)
1995–1997 Food Corporation of India
International career
1984–1992 India 34 (7[1])
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He appeared with Calcutta Football League club East Bengal from 1984 to 1991 and again from 1992 to 1994, and captained the team in 1989–90.[5][6][7] During his playing days, Dey came in touch of Sushil Bhattacharya, East Bengal's first ever head coach.[8][9][10]

Club career

Krishanu began his professional career in the Calcutta Football League with Police A.C. in 1979[11] under Achyut Banerjee. He later shifted to Calcutta Port Trust in 1980. After spending a couple of seasons there, he joined Mohun Bagan in 1982.[12] He played for Mohun Bagan until 1984. In 1982, he scored a debut goal against Dempo Sports Club in the Strafford Cup. After a series of attempts from Ex-East Bengal recruiter Dipak (Poltu) Das he joined their arch-rival East Bengal Club in 1985 along with Bikash Panji and became an East Bengal legend. It was during his time in East Bengal, that made him known as the "Indian Maradona".[13]

He was part of the team that won Federation Cup in 1985 and appeared in qualifiers of 1985–86 Asian Club Championship in Saudi Arabia.[14] During his days in mid-1980s, the club was managed by legendary footballer and Olympian P. K. Banerjee.[15][16][17] In the Central Asia Zone (tournament named "Coca-Cola Cup"), they beat multiple foreign teams like New Road Team of Nepal, Abahani Krira Chakra of Bangladesh, Club Valencia of the Maldives, and won the Coca Cola Trophy.[18]

He played for East Bengal continuously for a period of 7 years where he won many accolades including a treble (Durand Cup, Rovers Cup, IFA Shield) in 1990. He played for the club under coaching of Syed Nayeemuddin.[19] He returned to Mohun Bagan in 1992, and played alongside Nigerian striker Chima Okorie, one of the best foreigners of the club.[20][21][22] Krishanu again returned to East Bengal in 1994 for a season before joining his employer Food Corporation of India's football team in 1995. He played for them until his retirement in 1997. He was one of the highest paid Indian footballers of eighties and along with his close friend and fellow midfielder Bikash Panji with whom he formed a lethal combination on the field.[23] His club transfer stories throughout the eighties and early nineties are very intriguing where the club dropped down to the level of crime to acquire his signature.[24]

International career

Krishanu made his senior international debut for India on 22 June 1984 in the Great Wall Cup against China. Krishanu represented India in 10 list 'A' matches and scored 7 goals including a hat-trick at the Merdeka Tournament against Thailand in Malaysia, 1986.[3] He was the fifth Indian and second Bengali after Subhas Bhoumik to score an international hat-trick for India. He took part in Asian Games (1986), Merdeka Cup, Pre-Olympics, SAFF Games and Asian Cup as a member of the Indian team. He was the captain of the Indian team in 1992 Asian Cup qualifiers.[25]

Managerial career

After his retirement in 1997, Dey went on to choose managerial career and coached Food Corporation of India FC. He later managed Calcutta Football League outfit Kalighat Club in the 2000s.[25]

Personal life

He lived in Naktala, a south Kolkata neighbourhood. In his childhood, Krishanu used to play cricket and hated playing football as it is a more physical game. After realizing his talent in football he started taking the sport more seriously. He married a girl from Naktala on 8 February 1988 and on 25 December 1990, he and his wife were blessed with a son. He died on 20 March 2003 following a pulmonary disorder and multi-organ failure in a Kolkata hospital. He is survived by his wife Sharmila 'Poni' Dey and a son Soham Dey, who is sports journalist in a leading newspaper in Kolkata.[24] He has a Statue in his honor near Patuli Area in Kolkata. The Indian Football Association has named their under-19 football league in his memory.[26]

A web series based on Dey, named Krishanu Krishanu, was released on 29 August 2019 on ZEE5,[27] starring Anirban Chakrabarti, Elena Kazan, Badshah Moitra.[28][29]

Honours

Mohun Bagan

East Bengal

Bengal

India

See also

References
  1. Dey, Subrata. "India - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  2. "KRISANU DEY PROFILE | Kolkatafootball.com | Live Football Score India | IFA SHield, I-League". Kolkatafootball.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  3. Roy, Gautam; Ball, Swapan (2007). "East Bengal Football Club – Famous Players". www.eastbengalfootballclub.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  4. "Football — the passion play in Kolkata". ibnlive.in. IBN Live. 13 December 2011. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  5. "Kolkatafootball.com :East Bengal League History: Indian Football Capital's News". kolkatafootball.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  6. "East Bengal FC » Historical squads". worldfootball.net. Archived from the original on 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  7. "East Bengal Club - The Official Site of East Bengal Club". eastbengalclub.co.in. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  8. Mitra, Atanu (19 July 2015). "Legendary Indian coach Sushil Bhattacharya passes away". www.goal.com. Kolkata: Goal. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  9. Das, Debasmita (14 May 2019). "ইস্টবেঙ্গলের প্রথম পেশাদার কোচ, না পাওয়ার বাস্তবে এ এক অন্য তথ্যচিত্র!" [East Bengal's first professional coach, this is another documentary in reality!]. bengali.indianexpress.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  10. "ইস্টবেঙ্গলের প্রথম কোচ প্রয়াত" [First coach of East Bengal passed away]. www.anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Kolkata: Anandabazar Patrika. 19 July 2015. Archived from the original on 16 August 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  11. Das, G. C. (14 September 2008). "Indian Legendary Football Players Profile: MARADONA OF INDIA — Krisanu dey". www.kolkatafootball.com. Kolkata Football. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  12. "The Centenary – 1980 to 1989". Mohun Athletic Bagan Club. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  13. Top 10 Bengali footballers in the history of Indian football Archived 12 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine Khel Now. Retrieved 12 September 2021
  14. Kapadia, Novy (7 October 2012). "East Bengal's Federation Cup successes". www.sportskeeda.com. Sportskeeda. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  15. Sportstar, Team (1 August 2020). "100 years of East Bengal: A timeline". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  16. The World Sports Today (1 August 2020). "100 years of East Bengal: A timeline of Kolkata giant's key milestones". The World Sports Today. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  17. Das Sharma, Amitabha (20 March 2020). "Obit: The incomparable P. K. of Indian football". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  18. Mukherjee, Soham (1 April 2020). "How have Indian clubs fared in AFC Champions League and AFC Cup?". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  19. Bharadwaj, Sathvik K (31 August 2022). "Five most successful Indian football coaches". khelnow.com. Khel Now. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  20. Sengupta, Somnath (13 July 2011). "Tactical Evolution Of Indian Football: Part Four – Modern Era (1999—2011)". thehardtackle.com. Kolkata: The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  21. Basu, Joydeep (25 January 2021). "Indian football: Fred Pugsley, Chima Okorie, Ranti Martins – the foreign strikers who shone in India". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  22. Rahim (10 May 2020). "Chima Okorie: Indian football's greatest imports". theawayend.com. The Away End. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  23. Sengupta, Somnath (24 June 2013). "Legends Of Indian Football : Krishanu Dey". thehardtackle.com. Kolkata: The Hard Tackle. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  24. "Krishanu Dey passes away - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  25. "Krishanu Dey passes away". www.rediff.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  26. "East Bengal colts annex trophy". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  27. Bhattacharya, Tanmoy (8 September 2019). "কৃশানু দে ফিরলেন, সঙ্গে নিয়ে এলেন ময়দানের দমকা হাওয়া" [Krishanu De returned, bringing with him the gusty winds of Maidan]. www.prohor.in (in Bengali). Prohor. Archived from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  28. "Krishanu Krishanu TV Series: 2019–". imdb.com. Internet Movie Database. Archived from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  29. "Krishanu Krishanu: 11 Episodes • 2019 •Biopic • Based on True Events". www.zee5.com. ZEE5. Archived from the original on 15 September 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  30. The World Sports Today (1 August 2020). "100 years of East Bengal: A timeline of Kolkata giant's key milestones". The World Sports Today. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  31. Garin, Erik; King, Ian (2000). "3rd South Asian Federation Games 1987 (Calcutta, India)". RSSSF.

Bibliography
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