Interview: Indian U23 Defensive Trio - Part 3

Here’s Part 3 of the interview with Arnab Mondal, Abhishek Das and Gurjinder Kumar, the defensive trio of the Indian U23 team which played Qatar in the Pre-Olympic Qualifier. Also read Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview.

From L-R: Abhishek Das, Arnab Mondal and Gurjinder Kumar

RK to Abhishek: The Indian Arrows was formed with the long term goal of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. How do you feel has this helped youngsters like you to become ready for the international stage?

Abhishek: It has been a really good initiative by AIFF especially for youngsters like us. They have provided us with a stage using which we can achieve the 2018 goal. You cannot achieve anything in a short term. You cannot qualify for the World Cup with a one month camp. It is about forming a team. We are not saying that stick with us. Remove those who are not performing and replace them with juniors players who have been performing well. If such things are done on a long term basis then we will see results. For eg. This was the first time any Indian team has drawn with Qatar. Results will surely come. Our team is not bad at all. We have been together for almost a year , we have played together in the I-League and all this is a result of that. Had this same team played Qatar a year ago then the end result would have been different. Give us some time and we will surely do something. All the facilities provided by the Indian Arrows is very good. Thats why we are enjoying this. See all these new players who have joined us in the camp all of them are holding offers from the Indian Arrows. They want to keep this entire team together so that we can bond well and have a strong base. Now everything is their hands. They can join us if they want.

RK to Abhishek: As part of Indian Arrows and also as part of the U23 team, can you share some light over the role of Des Bulpin in your development in terms of his mentoring and coaching and working with him on a daily basis?

Abhishek: See he is very professional and thinks in the same manner. The best thing about him is that he doesn’t distinguish between players in the first team or reserve team. He treats everyone equally. Jeje was our top scorer with 12 goals but he has never praised Jeje alone. Instead he praised everyone saying that because of everyone else he could score so many goals. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been top scorer. According to him there is no star in the team. Every one is special in their own right. Although we have a team which is quite short, he keeps motivating us by saying that these things do not matter. What matters is what you feel inside and if you feel you can play well at a particular position no one can stop you. If you play well no will question you.

RK to Arnab and Gurjinder: How has your experience been under Des considering the fact that you are not part of the Indian Arrows set up?

Arnab: From what I have seen, you will get what you deserve under him. The harder you work the better. He is never casual. He has a never die attitude irrespective of the opponent. He treats everyone equally. He is very encouraging. His schedule, his treatment is very good. I liked it. He keeps telling us why aspects like fitness, style are important if you really want to make your name as a professional footballer.

Gurjinder: He is a very professional coach. He plans everything well in advance. He wants us to be free always and only wants us to perform well. I didn’t get to spend much time with him but enjoyed every moment of it.

RK: Representing India at the age of 20-21, how do you handle media pressure?

Abhishek: Media pressure should always be kept outside. When you enter the ground you should keep it aside. You should not let unwanted thoughts like my family is watching, people are watching to distract you. You should only remember one thing that you are representing your country. No matter what happens on the field you should try to make your country proud. As a player media pressure should not affect you on the field. Thats what I believe personally. There is media pressure one cannot deny it. But once you cross the line you should forget about it.

Arnab: The golden rule is if you play well the media will take you to the top but if you do badly them then will drop you down. There is no pressure for me as such. I should be satisfied with my performance that’s all I care about.

Abhishek: Yesterday we all played well but then when they scored the ball had gone over my head. Many started blaming me for the goal. But what people don’t realize is that I have not done it on mistake. I am giving my everything for the entire 90 minutes why would I want to concede. It was out of my reach that’s the reason why I couldn’t do anything about it. The players didn’t blame me at all. But that’s not the case with people outside. The team could not play as well as we were expected to in Qatar. But after returning back I read somewhere on a website that Abhishek Das should not be in the team. I did feel bad. But then I used it to motivate myself. I would like to thank those people who said that because they inspired me to perform better. I just wanted to prove to them that I deserve a place in the team.

Gurjinder: When a player makes a mistake people will talk about it. However when a player does well, it is the media’s duty to write about it and praise the player. Personally even I don’t let media pressure affect me. When I go out to play I try to maintain focus on the game ahead and concentrate on what the coach has told me.

RK: What advice would you like to give to youngsters who are just starting out and who want to reach your level in the game?

Arnab: First of all people don’t consider sports as a profession here. Why? Because there is no security. People say get a job and settle down. You can get injured while playing football. No body is willing to take the risk. There is no school where sports is compulsory. I feel sports/football should be made compulsory in all schools and their performance in the same should be judged. Only then will the parents think of sending their children to play the game. Professional academies like the one being set up by PFC should come up. Ones like Indian Arrows where youngsters are brought together are necessary to pull up talent.

Abhishek: I guess we should now start thinking professionally. We are lagging behind. The ideology shouldn’t be that I am playing football for getting a side job or just to earn some money. We should look at it as a career. Most parents want their children to take up cricket because they feel their life will become set but they don’t think of football in the same way. There is lot of money in football nowadays. This thinking has to change. One more fact is that there are lots of youngsters playing football in the country. But then I feel that there are not going in the right direction, their mentality is not right. They have lots of unwanted thoughts in their minds. They are not concentrating on football. These youngsters should be guided well. They should pursue football for the right reasons. Only if you are dedicated enough you should think of entering this field. Practice is not about just turning up on the field. We need to put our heart and soul into practice. While playing football try to set goals, keep telling yourself that you want to reach that particular level. If not then try something else football is not for you.

Gurjinder: Academy’s similar to the TFA should be set up. Kids should be taught about football from a very young age. A keen sense of interest for the game should be developed in them. Only through various activities can this interest be developed. There are academics that pick 19 and 20 year olds. Improvement is not possible at that age. The right age to start would be around 10-11.

Abhishek: Another point to note is that even small tournaments in Cricket are televised. We played against Myanmar here but it was not televised. There are people who want to watch Indian football. For the development and growth of football in India media coverage is very crucial. This time around however there has been lot of media coverage. If you don’t cover us if you don’t televise matches how will the kids be interested? You see club level cricket being aired on television but here there is an important international Olympic qualifier taking place and it is not covered. Similarly we played in the I-League last year but half the people don’t about the Indian Arrows. There were lots of matches like the one against Mohun Bagan which should have been highlighted.

Gurjinder: My relatives exactly don’t know what I am doing. Whenever I go home they keep inquiring how is work. I always tell them that work is great. Yesterday when the match was being aired, I told my parents to ask all my relatives to watch the match. It is only after watching the match that everyone came to know that I actually play football. That was the situation.

Abhishek: Its all about coverage. If we don’t cover football then the situation will remain the same. There were so many kids out there yesterday. Many of them asking for our autographs. They wanted to interact with us. It was a great feeling for us and may be for them too.

RK: 2018. A dream or a possibility?

Abhishek: Yes. We can achieve it. But we need to do a lot of hard work. We need to be together and we need to work harder. Nothing is impossible. For eg against a very good side like Qatar we did well. We almost beat them. Similarly we can qualify for the world cup. Why not? There is lot of talent in India. All we need is direction.

Arnab: I feel we should first concentrate on our infrastructure. For eg how many good quality grass pitches do we have? There is one here in Pune and one in Goa. Thats it. Even the turf at the Salt Lake stadium is not good. It does create a lot of problems. Like Abhishek said it is not impossible. Keeping the 2018 target in mind we need to start developing infrastructure and academies.

Abhishek: Just take Qatar for example. We practiced on one of their school grounds. You won’t believe how good it was. Also there are grounds everywhere in Qatar. The dressing room of the Al-Sadd stadium is unbelievable. They have all sorts of facilities there including astro turf for practice, jacuzzi, steam, massage room, gym. They have everything. It is a beautiful stadium. The basic necessity for playing football is a good quality ground.

Arnab: Maintenance is also required. The Salt Lake stadium at one point of time had the best grass surface. Similar was the case with the ground at Kalyani. But they have not been maintained well.

Gurjinder: There are lots of stadiums in India. There are big stadiums in every state. But then nobody is maintaining it. They all are in a bad shape. People just come and play and forget about it. No care is taken.

RK: We thank you for your time and wish you the very best for your future.