Kolkata: Football artist Surajit Sengupta passes away | Kolkata News – Times of India

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KOLKATA: Surajit Sengupta, 71, who dominated Indian club football in the 1970s with his unique style of wing-play, mixing the art of dribbling with speed, passed away in a Kolkata hospital on Thursday.
On January 22, Sengupta had to be taken to hospital after being infected with the coronavirus. His condition, however, kept deteriorating and he had been on life support since Monday. He breathed his last around 2pm.

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A member of the 1974 and 1978 Asian Games football teams, Sengupta rose to prominence in the 1970s, playing for the city’s three big clubs, Mohun Bagan (1972-1973, 1981-1983), East Bengal (1974- 1979) and Mohammedan Sporting (1980). He is survived by his wife and son.
Surajit Sengupta, the man who could “let the ball talk”, dominated Indian football in the 1970s with his unique style of wing-play, mixing the art of dribbling with speed and creating a spectacle.
“To be a successful winger, you need to have a magajastra (weapon of the brain). You need to understand your time and space, which is just one side of the field, and at the same time, you must be aware of what others are doing elsewhere. Because, as a winger, you must keep the heart of your team beating,” he often said, taking pride in his role as an attacking midfielder in a wide position.
Sengupta’s heart stopped beating at a city hospital on Thursday, succumbing to Covid-19 and other related complications. The 71-year-old’s death came about a month after the passing of his teammate and another Indian football star of the 1970s, Subhas Bhowmick.
A day after Bhowmick’s death on January 22, Sengupta had to be taken to a hospital after being infected with the virus. However, his condition kept deteriorating and he had been on life support since Monday. He breathed his last around 2 in the afternoon at the hospital. He is survived by his wife and son.
“Surajit was a true artist who could let the ball talk. We have lost two gems of Indian football and my former teammates in a span of one month. I really don’t know how to describe this,” former India star Gautam Sarkar said.
Former India captain and goalkeeper Bhaskar Ganguly echoed the sentiment. “This generation doesn’t know how great a player Surajit Sengupta was and how he used to create a spectacle with his sublime footwork,” he said.
Sengupta joined Mohun Bagan in 1972 and moved to East Bengal two years later. It was at the red-and-gold team, his repertoire as a winger blossomed. He mixed his artistry with a nose for goals in such a way that he soon became a quintessential crowd-puller. The fact that he scored 92 goals for East Bengal and 54 more while playing for Mohun Bagan, bore testimony to this fact.
The door for the national team soon opened for him when he made his international debut against Thailand in the 1974 Merdeka Cup. He went on to represent India in two Asian Games (1974 and 1978) as well.
However, it was in domestic football where this four-time Santosh Trophy winner for Bengal found his true calling. He embraced controversy sometimes as well. In 1980, when Mohammedan Sporting pulled off one of the greatest transfer swoops, he joined the black-and-white side along with several other East Bengal stars. He returned to Mohun Bagan the following season and hung up his boots there in 1983.

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