Tulsidas Balaram - The tormented genius of Indian football

Praise from colleagues and fellow professionals is the ultimate tribute and Balaram’s genius is acknowledged by many. His former international team-mate and football legend, Chuni Goswami once wrote that “Balaram’s football sense was his biggest asset. His shooting and ball control was art of the very highest class. The man himself was quiet and reserved but his contribution to the team was incredible.”

Former international defender Arun Ghosh described Balaram as a man who had two eyes on the back of his head – so good was his ball distribution. He was also the heart of any team he played for, directing every attacking move.

Legendary, hard tackling defender Jarnail Singh regarded Balaram as the toughest opponent he ever played against. According to Jarnail, he was the only forward who remained undeterred despite being subjected to tough tackles.

Renowned coach Subash Bhowmick has often said that Balaram was like Thierry Henry, with his ability to fall back, retrieve the ball and attack at full speed.

Ex-Olympian and FIFA referee SS Hakeem said that “Balaram was one of the greatest Indian forwards of all time.” Another contemporary P.K. Banerjee once said that, “Balaram’s improvisation, industriousness and ability to hit curling shots were second to none”.

Chuni Goswami had more flair in his play, but Balaram had more variety and versatility. Balaram could play in any position, on the left flank, as inside forward and attacking midfielder.

In the 1956 Santosh trophy final, he played the first drawn match in the final against Bombay as outside left. But in the replay, coach Rahim shuffled his forward line Balaram came in as inside right and scored twice in the first quarter of the match as Hyderabad won the title 4-1.

In that final, he was a precocious 18 year-old teenager, but those watching at Ernakulam knew a genius had arrived. His speed, ball sense and distribution were immaculate.

Within the first quarter of an hour, Hyderabad launched a blitzkrieg, scored four goals and closed out the match. With D. Kannan playing as a withdrawn centre forward, Balaram functioned as a distributor and goal scorer.

Both Chuni and Balaram could walk into any dream all-time great Indian forward line. The dream forward line would be P.K. Banerjee, T. Balaram, Chuni Goswami and Ahmed Khan.

P.K. Banerjee has often said that he, Chuni and Balaram had telepathic understanding whenever they played. This was best illustrated in the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games final, which India won beating South Korea 2-1.

This illustrious trio combined to score the first goal. Balaram won possession in midfield and released Goswami with a perfect through. Goswami threaded the ball to PK, who finished with a flourish.