Former Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia not part of PK Banerjee's all-time XI but finds a place on the reserves bench

Former Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia not part of PK Banerjee’s all-time XI but finds a place on the reserves bench

Kolkata, Aug 11 (Football news) Bhaichung Bhutia may have played one of his best matches under the tutelage of the legendary P K Banerjee but the 'Sikkemese Sniper' does not find a place in his all-time India XI.

In his autobiography 'Guru' which was brought out by Banerjee's daughters, Paula and Purna Banerjee, 15 months after his death, Bhutia finds a place in the reserve bench alongside Surajit Sengupta, Samaresh Chowdhury and Subrata Bhattacharya.

Bhutia had played one of his best matches under the coaching of Banerjee when he scored a hat-trick to lead East Bengal's 4-1 rout of arch-rivals Mohun Bagan in the 1997 Federation Cup in front of a crowd of 1.31 lakh.

Banerjee's all-time XI has the likes of Mohammed Habib, Shyam Thapa and Shubhas Bhowmick up front, while Prasun Banerjee, Prastanta Banerjee and Gautam Sarkar man the midfield.

Through a series of anecdotes, pieces of history and coaching secrets, the book traces the life of a young boy who made it big in the Indian football, from the small town of Katihar in Bihar.

Banerjee also talks about how he had to deal with his daughter's kidnapping ahead of a history-making Kolkata League encounter and why he cut his chest to offer blood to the deities at the Tarakeshwar temple twice.

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A doyen of Indian football, Banerjee, who died in march last year at the age of 83 years, also revealed about a secret notebook that "he never shared with anyone".

"This had his lessons and learnings from his Guru Dettmar Cramer. The secret notebook is out in print for the first time and could prove to be the Bible for coaching aspirants," said a statement.

The book is edited by sports journalist and author Gautam Bhattacharya and sports journalist and raconteur Supriyo Mukhopadhyay.

P K Banerjee's all-time XI: Bhaskar Ganguly, Sudhir Karmakar, Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Pradip Chowdhury, Shyamal Banerjee/Alok Mukherjee, Gautam Sarkar, Prasanta Banerjee, Prasun Banerjee, Subhas Bhowmik, Shyam Thapa, Md Habib; Reserves: Surajit Sengupta, Bhaichung Bhutia, Samaresh Chowdhury, Subrata Bhattacharya.

News source: PTI