July 13 1997: Bhaichung Bhutia’s historic leap towards greatness

Bhaichung Bhutia was already one of India’s best players despite being only 21

By then, the Sikkimese Sniper was no longer just the boy wonder of Indian football but already one of the best players, having won the AIFF Player of the Year Award in 1995 as a teenager and inspired JCT to the National Football League (NFL) title in the inaugural season (1996-97).

“Bhaichung by then had shown he’s made of a different mould. As a teenager at East Bengal, he would carry bottled water to the club. This, at a time when established India players would think nothing of drinking from a tap at the club. By the time this match happened, Bhutia had helped Bengal to a hattrick of Santosh Trophy titles and his transfer to JCT, who in the 1996-97 season built a star-studded team, was one of the most talked about things in Indian football.

“And he didn’t shirk from speaking his mind. That a player barely out of his teens could actually spurn East Bengal didn’t go down well with their officials. But in wooing Bhaichuing back next season, East Bengal showed how important he had become to Indian football by then. And he was only 21 then,” Sarkar recalled.

Like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal also enjoyed a comfortable win in the quarter-finals, a 4-0 success over fellow Kolkata outfit Mohammedan Sporting. But all eyes were on Amal Dutta’s Mohun Bagan and their diamond system.

The strategy might have worked against Churchill Brothers but getting it right against the arch-rivals in a pressure game was the real challenge.

Bhaichung himself recalls that Mohun Bagan were the clear favourites: “The hype surrounding the game was immense both among the media and the fans. We were undoubtedly the underdogs because Mohun Bagan were on great form and playing some good football so it gave me and my teammates great satisfaction to eventually win the game.”

East Bengal went in front in the 25th minute through Nazimul Haque with Bhaichung playing his part after a corner from Somatai Saiza but Mohun Bagan were very much in the contest going into the half-time break. However the second half belonged to the man wearing the no.15 red-and-gold shirt, Bhaichung, as he exposed the weaknesses in the diamond system with a hattrick thanks to some quality finishing.

The first of those was a towering header from another Somatai Saiza corner and the other two came from counter attacks with Bhaichung once again proving that there is no better finisher than him in Indian football.

Nigerian Chima Okorie’s consolation goal for Mohun Bagan might have been the best goal of the game but it mattered little as Bhaichung enhanced his reputation with a match winning performance in the biggest fixture of Indian football.

“After the hattrick, possibly the first in the Kolkata derby in independent India, he became East Bengal’s most enduring icon of recent times. In front of a record 131,000 crowd, Bhutia had dismantled Mohun Bagan, leaving them gobsmacked with incredible opportunism and finishing. He has always said he found the roar as players emerge from the tunnel at the Salt Lake stadium hugely motivating. That evening he had showed that the bigger the stage, the better he is spurred to play,” Sarkar stated.