Chennai: It was 10.30 in the morning and the Chennai heat was striking the face.
Bengal coach Raghu Nandy decided to end the strenuous two-hour practice session at the grassless SDAT ground, here, and asked his boys to form a huddle. First came a prayer to end their 10-year Santosh Trophy drought followed by a pep talk from the coach.
“Last time we won we beat them 5-0 at the same venue. Give your best on Sunday,” the coach said. Staccato claps from the Bengal players and it was time to return to the cool confines of the hotel.
While all this was happening at the ground, someone as vital in Nandy’s scheme of things as skipper Habibur Rehman Mondal was in Apollo Hospital undergoing tests for recurring cramps.
The experienced defender is unlikely to make the eleven for the Santosh Trophy final against Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday and that’s a big blow to the 29-time champions. He got a cramp after the semi-finals against Services and had been administered saline till well past midnight.
Doctors fear it can come back anytime and have advised rest till he is completely cured.
Habibur’s big-match experience would surely have come in handy for Bengal. For this team doesn’t have many players who have played a final at a major tournament. Team sources said Habibur wants to play at least for 45 minutes.
But fielding a half-fit player for such an important match appears a risky move to the Bengal think tank. So, in all probability Rajib Ahmed will replace the Mohun Bagan side-back and midfielder Snehasish Chakraborty will wear the skipper’s armband.
Barring that change, a forced one for sure, Bengal are likely to stick to the team that took the field against Services. The practice session though gave hints that Bengal may go for a five-man midfield with Lalkamal Bhowmick operating behind a lone striker.
That’s an option for Nandy and it may be used in the later part of the match, for “switching from a more comfortable 4-4-2 to 4-5-1 will not be a feasible thing at this moment.”
Subho Kumar and Denson Devadas will have to repeat their semi-final performance on Sunday and it will be interesting to see how they deal with the experience and guile of Climax Lawrence at the centre of the park.
Barring the match-winner against Tamil Nadu, Climax has not done much to write home about. You can’t blame him for that. He returned to Chennai on match-day morning after having rushed to Goa for an urgent family engagement.
On Sunday though he would be pepped up to deny Bengal a chance to turn a new corner. He and his Dempo teammate Mahesh Gawli are two of the players in the Goan ranks who have the experience of playing big matches.
Otherwise, this Goan team doesn’t have much talent to showcase. Add to that the injuries of Freddy Mascarenhas and Branco Cardozo, who are ruled out for the final.
That forced coach Mariano Dias to field a half-fit Joaquim Abranches in the semi-final but the talented striker could not pose any problems. In fact his substitute Francis Fernandes was the more vibrant of the two and earned a penalty for his team. On Sunday, Abranches is likely to get a start even though the final call will be taken just hours from kick-off.
Football-wise Goa is much ahead of Calcutta these days both in terms of talent and success. A win on Sunday will give Bengal an opportunity to salvage some pride.
Santosh Trophy may be passé for many, but bragging rights about regional supremacy and a Rs 5-lakh winners’ cheque can still give a high.
