Where exactly is Chiraag Paul? - India's Forgotten 'Brandon Fernandes'

There is an unbearable anticipation among the Indian footballing fraternity surrounding the trials of Indian whizkid Brandon Fernandes at Reading and now subsequently Leicester City. Having apparently impressed with The Royals, where the Indian U-19 starlet is said to have already notched up 2 assists in his first friendly appearance in a “closed door” match, a positive outcome might well be expected within the next few days.

Yet for those who know, there is still a sense of calm – happy nonetheless – but an undying sense of cautiousness over what has and what is going to transpire in the near future. For there was yet another Brandon before him; and even in this very moment of triumph, there is this subconscious fear within – that the Brandon of today does not meet the fate of his earlier predecessor.

It was all fairyland stuff for Chiraag Paul, then a sixteen-year-old boy from Kolkata, when he became the first Asian to get a full-time scholarship to study and train at the South Birmingham College sponsored by Birmingham City FC in 2005. He had already been playing for the East Bengal reserves but a call from Midlands was something that was beyond his expectations. An opportunity he couldn’t have missed and he made sure he didn’t!

“Further to our meeting (on October 20) at Birmingham City Football Club, we would like to invite you to attend a trial for the South Birmingham College and Birmingham City Football Club Football Development School”-Louise Macey, Football Development School manager” (Excerpts from the letter to Chiraag Paul, as reported by The Telegraph, ABP Publications, Kolkata)

He graduated from their programme and was soon inducted to play for Birmingham in the Premiership, before he suffered a major jolt; an earth-shattering one! A nasty injury put his footballing career in the balance – the troublesome ankle meant his dreams were hanging on a knife edge.

He returned to India, and under the supervision of Kolkata-based orthopaedic surgeon Vikas Kapoor and Chennai-based sports medicine specialist P. Kannan, Chiraag began his rehabilitation. Months after an arthroscopic surgery on the his ankle, Chiraag thankfully made a full recovery. But worryingly it was now almost 9 months since Chiraag had last played football !

Well, life dosen’t always give you a second opportunity, but for Chiraag there would be one. Soon after his recovery, much to everyone’s surprise, London heavyweights, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur came calling for the lanky striker; but in a decision that made more footballing sense, Chiraag signed a £1,500-a-week contract with Championship side Nottingham Forest as he hoped to make an impression in the first team. The move also potentially made him the third Indian since Mohammad Salim and Bhaichung Bhutia to ply their trade in Europe!

Following the extraordinary developments, Chiraag was likely to play four to five matches for the reserve team of the first division club during the start of the season and then would have been switched to first-team, according to indications received by Chiraag from the then club manager Colin Calderwood.

However, he would again hit a stumbling block as work permit complications wouldn’t allow him to represent the 1979 and 1980 European Champions. India, being ranked much below 70 in the FIFA rankings, meant the issue was simply beyond any compromise. There was nothing the now nineteen year old could do; his ambitions were on the brink of an abrupt end!

And then that was that – never did we hear of him anymore. Some said he had planned to play for India – an extensive research, however, doesn’t reveal any sort of appearance from him in any level of football in the country since then. One wonders if the authorities here could have been more pro-active to get him on board or whether he himself had opted out of football – no one in the circuit possibly has an answer.

A quick look into his facebook profile sees him sitting lazily on a couch – seemingly happy and relaxed. One wonders for his sake that is indeed so. His professional over-view in Linkedin reveals his recent involvement with Matrix International, a import-export business consulting firm. Infact, apparently he had been working as a Business analyst for several companies over the past few years. As for his footballing credentials, however, there weren’t any signs since 2008!

So for Brandon now, one just hopes there is a better ‘footballing future’ in store – not only for himself but also for a country starving for footballing talents. From what his predecessor has gone through, one can only learn that irrespective of the outcomes of his trials in England, there is still a long way to go. Neither a rejection ends the world for him nor does a selection secures his future; for it is only he who has to make the right choices – one can only hope he is nurtured under the right hands.

Slightly digressing, a close look at Sunil Chhetri‘s “much talked about” stint at Sporting Lisbon so far, further reflects on a very harsh reality. Having hardly managed 15 minutes of play over the last 3 months with the B team, things are far from ideal.

It is thus very important for Brandon not to force the issue for himself; make a proper evaluation of his talents and not just jump anywhere for the sake of it, going by the ‘over-flowing’ emotions; but to choose the appropriate “level” for himself and provide himself the platform to develop as a good football player – For it is absolutely necessary for India not to lose out on yet another massive potential; a talent of such enormous magnitude!