Anupam Sarkar: Wealth of experience.While many aspiring Indian footballers dream of playing for just one of the big clubs in Kolkata, FC Pune City defender Anupam Sarkar has donned the colours of all four footballing giants in the ‘city of joy’. The former India under-19 alumnus has played for East Bengal, Mohammedan Sporting, Mohun Bagan and United Sports Club.Playing for all the top four is undoubtedly a rare distinction but does that not give the highly rated central defender a real dilemma on which team to support? Not quite. “Since my childhood itself, I was a fan of Mohun Bagan. But when I join a club, I stop supporting one team. I support the team I play for,” explained Sarkar in an interview with indiansuperleague.com.“My parents believe I would have been a lawyer, but I believe I could have been a politician.”Anupam SarkarWith the full support of his parents and family, Sarkar started his football journey in 2002. He shares a common source of inspiration with possibly every current aspiring footballer on earth: the TV screen. “It was my dream and passion to end up doing something related to football. This is why I started watching football on television. I watched the World Cup, began watching East Bengal and Mohun Bagan matches. Watching the game obviously roused my interest further. This is more or less how I got into the football scene.”Little did he know then that his passion for watching the sport would seamlessly transcend into an extremely accomplished career laden with silverware. With two Santosh Trophy titles, a Kolkata league title and an IFA Shield in the bag, his trophy cabinet is indeed very well decorated.“My parents believe I would have been a lawyer, but I believe I could have been a politician. But all these things only God knows,” was Sarkar’s reaction when asked whether he had any alternate career choices apart from football. Although he chose football, there’s no doubting the fact that his hard tackling, incisive challenges and sound decision making abilities are traits that would also have come extremely handy in a court of law or parliament or the state legislature. “In India, I follow Deepak Mandal. There is no point in following anyone from outside because the infrastructural differences are vast. Internationally, I like Pepe’s game and John Terry was really good,” was Sarkar’s articulate response when asked about his footballing idols. The face off against Mandal in the ISL’s Maharashtra derby will be the stuff of dreams for the 29-year-old, who will inevitably relish the opportunity to prove himself in front of his childhood idol.Sarkar has a lot of expectations that the ISL can change Indian football for the good. “If there is anything that can boost Indian football today, it is the ISL,” he stated.Considered by many as the reason behind the defensive stability of Shabbir Ali’s all-conquering Bengal side in the national championship, Sarkar’s expertise will hopefully propel FC Pune City’s quest in the ISL. It could be ‘Sarkar Raj’ for FC Pune City!
