"ATK Mohun Bagan captain Pritam Kotal dedicates song to fans ahead of opening clash against Kerala Blasters"

Pritam Kotal has two distinct sides to his personality. On the field, the combative defender is a fierce competitor who doesn’t give his opponents an inch. Off it, he always wears a smile and is one of the most humble people you’ll ever come across.

The 28-year old has proved his worth on the domestic circuit to become a mainstay in India’s backline over the last five years. But his road to fame has by no means been easy. Despite facing rejection from the TATA Football Academy twice in his formative years, Kotal is now counted among the best full-backs in the country. He is one of the first names you would pick while choosing an India XI.

Born in West Bengal’s Uttarpara, Kotal has enjoyed a trophy-laden spell at club level. Besides winning almost every domestic competition like the ISL, the I-League and the Federation Cup, he has also been an integral part of India’s Intercontinental Cup and SAFF Championship winning teams.

However, nothing gives Kotal more satisfaction than leaving a mark on the pitch while donning the iconic green-and-maroon shirt. After all, everyone in his family is a Mohun Bagan supporter. Kotal himself skipped many exams in his childhood to see his favorite team in action.

Kotal along with Subhasish Bose and Roy Krishna will lead ATK Mohun Bagan in the eighth edition of the ISL. A day before the Mariners’ inaugural match of the season against Kerala Blasters FC in Goa's Fatorda, the experienced defender spoke exclusively to Sportskeeda about his side’s pre-season preparations, the 0-6 defeat against FC Nasaf in the AFC Cup Inter-Zone semi-final, KBFC as opponents and the much-awaited Kolkata derby. Here are the excerpts:-

Q: Your social media interaction with Prabir Das and Subhasish Bose has been a huge hit among the ATK Mohun Bagan fans. Besides leading the team, do you think you can lead ATKMB's media team as well?

Kotal: It was a new thing for us. We wanted to do something creative using a new hashtag. #JoyMohunBagan was already there, so we thought of adding the green and maroon colors to it. Hence, we came up with #AmraSobujMaroon. [We] wanted to uphold Mohun Bagan’s legacy.

Q: On a serious note, your head coach Antonio Lopez Habas recently said a lack of pre-season training is not a concern for the team. As a player, how challenging is it to head into the ISL without enough pre-season match practice under your belt?

Kotal: If you take the AFC Cup into account, you could say we started our pre-season preparations a long time back. We’ve done our pre-season training in parts. Although it’s true we haven’t played any pre-season warm-up matches, we got ample match practice during the AFC Cup. We’re confident about doing well this season and we will give it our all on the pitch.

Stay tuned for the ISL result here at Sportskeeda.

Q: The AFC Cup Inter-Zone semi-final defeat against FC Nasaf has passed now. Why do you think there exists such a big gulf between the Indian clubs and their Central/Western Asian counterparts, despite so much money being pumped into the ISL?

Kotal: Yes, to be honest, there’s a lot of difference [between the Indian and the Central/Western Asian clubs]. I just want to add here that had we played in the AFC Cup during our season, we may not have lost so badly. Anyway, the AFC Cup is past now and we’re currently focusing only on the ISL.

Q: I want to congratulate you on the SAFF Championship win. You staged a brilliant turnaround after the first two matches to lift the trophy. But the fact is, we've struggled to win against teams like Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in the recent past. Would you attribute this to the long offseason in Indian football?

Kotal: Thanks! I think the first couple of matches didn’t go well for us because we entered the tournament after practicing for just 3 days. Such scant practice is not enough when you represent the national team.

We do need longer preparatory camps. I also believe the Indian football season should be longer so that we get more match practice.

Q: Last season, you, Tiri and Sandesh performed splendidly at the heart of ATKMB's defense. What added pressure is Jhingan's absence creating on you? Do you think Tiri's return could ease some pressure?

Kotal: Sandesh was definitely a very important player for us last season. He’s not here at the moment, so there’s nothing we can do about that. We’ll miss him but our team’s philosophy is to play a team game; it doesn’t rely on any individual player. I hope whoever plays in his [Jhingan’s] place will give his 100% effort for the team. We defend as a team; it’s not only about the three of us.

Q: You will take on Kerala Blasters FC in your first game of the season. Your opponents possess the threatening pair of Alvaro Vazquez and Jorge Pereyra Diaz upfront. How are you planning to stop them?

Kotal: KBFC are a very strong team. They have a good blend of youth and experience as usual and the inaugural match of any tournament is always tricky for both sides. That said, we’re well prepared for the challenge. We'll eye nothing less than 3 points.

Q: Your second match will be the high-voltage Kolkata derby against SC East Bengal. Last season, you had the last laugh in your duel with Bright Enobakhare in the second leg. Are you confident of emulating that performance against SCEB’s latest target man Daniel Chima Chukwu?

Kotal: I’m not concentrating on the derby right now. We’ll take one match at a time.

The derby is definitely important, but we need to get off to a good start against KBFC on Friday. We can focus on the derby after that. I’ll be very confident going into the derby. They [SCEB] have assembled a good squad this season; you can’t focus on Chima alone.