He might be seated comfortably in his drawing room chair,but his feet itch, his heart aches. And all the emotion of a season with one of India’s biggest club pours out. “It was all in out hands,” he says in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.
“The finishing line was in our sight”.
Pronay Halder in the space of 12 months has transformed his career. He no longer is in the “has the potential” bracket. His presence and performances in the heart of the Mohun Bagan midfield have earned him praise and a few months a place in the Indian national side.
The diminutive boy who showed promise with Dempo and FC Goa is now a household name in Kolkata. His every move, his every touch carries with it not only his fate in the footballing world but also the dreams of a million whose souls are clad in the colours green and maroon.
Could have been so much better
This season for Pronay Halder can be well characterised by those six words. Many had told him of the pressures of playing in the green and maroon of Mohun Bagan but for the midfielder, it seemed like second nature.
After some indifferent performances to begin the season, the dynamic Indian midfielder soon became a vital cog in Sanjoy Sen’s well-oiled machinery that seemed ready to blow away all competition.
And then it happened. Mohun Bagan after tearing through all and sundry had begun the season on an eleven game unbeaten run. Then everything came apart. In a league that is defined by fine margins due to the less number of games, the Mariner’s run of two points from the next four games wasn’t left unpunished.
“We were confident and on a strong run. Even on days we didn’t play well, we were able to eke out results.
“But then everything came loose. Sanjoy sir had his ban, the World Cup qualifiers, and the Sony Norde injury. Those combined were just too big a hit that we failed to recover from,” the Indian international quips.
Pronay thinks things could have been a lot different if the schedule of the Aizawl match was not as it was. Bagan went into the game high on confidence, but without their coach on the sidelines and its four Indian internationals in Pritam Kotal, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Debjit Ghosh and Halder himself away on international duty.
“The Aizawl game was a huge turning point. Sadly four of our first team players were missing and all we could was watch on our television sets as we lost the plot.
“We were so used to winning that we couldn’t shake ourselves from that result,” says a disappointed Pronay who will miss his team’s season finale due to card troubles.
Ambition was to win everything
While many might have set their goals low coming into the a title winning side, that certainly wasn’t the case for Pronay. “I wanted to start every game. Many told me I couldn’t and that’s what I took up as a challenge.
In the space of a few months, Halder’s play garnered him praise for all corner of the footballing fraternity. He seamlessly filled the shoes of Sehnaj Singh, who had moved to bitter rivals East Bengal after masterminding Bagan’s midfield play in their championship-winning season last year.
“A lot of people told me about the enormity of wearing the Green and Maroon jersey. But I never really took much heed. I didn’t want to to put too much pressure on myself.
“It really wouldn’t have done me any good. The coach told me what to do and I went there on the pitch and did it to the best of my abilities,” says the Indian international.
The Green and Maroon fanatics have witnessed the rise of a new star in their midfield. With Halder being one of their own from Bengal, the feeling has been even sweeter.
While Mohun Bagan might not have won the I-League this season, Halder has surely won thousands of hearts.
