Souvik Chakrabarti has seen it all in the ISL. A part of the Delhi Dynamos since its inception, the midfielder has come on leaps and bound in the last couple of years and has become a key cog in both the Dynamos as well as Mohun Bagan (his I-League side) midfield. However, the one feather that’s missing in his cap is a call-up to the national side. Though a number youngsters have been given their debuts under Stephen Constantine, his number is yet to be called up.
And he hopes that finally, this ISL season can be the one that will propel him on the international scene. “My biggest wish will be to represent the country and contribute to its success, that’s my biggest goal in life,” quips the 25-year-old in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.
Rise to the top
After initially impressing with United Sports, the central midfielder signed for Mohun Bagan in 2014. The same year he got a deal from the Delhi Dynamos and the lions, impressed with his performances, have resigned him for each of the following seasons. Meanwhile, he has also gone on to win two major titles in his two years with Mohun Bagan.
The midfielder, however, felt that the presence of top-class foreigners makes the margin for error much smaller in the ISL as compared to the I-League.
“The I-League is very different from the ISL, the quality of football is different and the duration of the tournament is different,” opined the lad from Bengal. “The ISL has a lot of high-quality foreign players and Indian players playing who are ready to pounce on every small mistake the opponent makes and convert them into goals. There is a small margin of error in the ISL.”
A team player
Plying his trade as a right-back in the side, Souvik has shown both his versatility as well as being able to do anything that the manager needs him to do for the team. His bright performances, in fact, prompted the Dynamos to send him on a trial to Australia to train with A-League side Central Coast Mariners F.C
After failing to qualify for the final four in the inaugural season, the Lions made it to the semis last season under the stewardship of Roberto Carlos. However, this time round, the reins of the team has been handed over to Italian legend Gianluca Zambrotta. Thus, we can expect a change in the style of play in the coming season.
The midfielder feels this change will, in fact, help the team as this team needed a more tactical approach. “Italian people are known to be strong tactically and that is going to be really helpful for the team in putting up a great show for the crowd. But we are an attacking team and we will play to our strengths.”
A keen learner, Souvik is having fun again getting to know the nuances of the game from his new manager and feels this will account to improve his game. “It hasn’t been really long under him but his approach to the game is something we haven’t witnessed in India before. He is a very technical coach in terms of approaching the game. His tactical classes are the best according to me, you get to learn a lot about the game and see it in a way which is very different to normal Indian standards.”
Looking ahead to the new season
Since, its inception a couple of years back, Souvik has seen the league grow and is impressed where it’s heading.
“There have been a lot of changes in the league. In terms of players, there has been an influx of young foreign players which has improved the speed of the game. The game is now played at a much higher speed than it was played in the first or the second season. I have been part of the same team for the past 3 years, the management team has only moved forward in grooming the team better.”
As a matter of fact, Delhi Dynamos became the first Indian team to play a Premier League league side when they played a friendly against West Brom earlier this month. After spending time in England, the team also visited Sweden to finish off their pre-season preparations.
“In our first year, we didn’t have a pre-season outside the country but for the past 2 years, we have had great experiences playing against some really good sides from Europe. Last year we had gone for the pre-season but results were not that great. But this year, we did exceptionally well and not only did we put a strong fight against EPL side West Brom and lost narrowly to them, but stayed unbeaten during our Sweden trip winning two matches.”
The Dynamos will look to be crowned ISL champions for the first time and Souvik wants to contribute to it as possible. “My personal goal would be to play all the 17 matches in the league and contribute in every win my team registers, not receive any cards and see my team win the league and be crowned champions.”
The ISL has been a real learning experience for the young midfielder like others and the youngster feels that his experience from the ISL helped him grow up a footballer and do well for his I-League side Mohun Bagan as well.
“After playing the first season in the Hero ISL and moving to the I-League later after that brought about a lot of changes in my game.
“I went on to win the I-League the next year with Mohun Bagan and I would give credit to the Delhi Dynamos for giving me ample playing time throughout the tournament which instilled a lot of confidence in me going into the I-League. That confidence made it a lot easier to perform better in the league.”
Hoping for the best
The Dynamos have recruited former French international and Chelsea star Florent Malouda as their marquee player this season. And the Frenchman has started off firing on all cylinder in the preseason, the Lions can dream of a glorious run ahead in the Indian Super League.
“We have had a very good pre-season and have fine tuned important aspects of our game and made important changes to our style of play. We have assimilated well with each other during the pre-season and are quite confident this cohesiveness and understanding about each other will help us go the distance in the upcoming season,” said a determined Souvik
Along with the dream of flying out in the colours in the Indian national side, Souvik also harbours the dream to one day playing in an even more competitive foreign league with A-League firmly in his sights.
“I went for a trial in Australia with a top A-League side and I wish I could get an opportunity to play in such an esteemed league one day,” Souvik signed off.
The Delhi Dynamos play their opener on the 6th of next month when they host the defending champions Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
