Former Indian footballer and one of the very few from the city to have represented all the three famous clubs of Kolkata, Victor Amalraj, formally launched his autobiography “Midfield Maestro” here on Sunday.
Amalraj said it was an endeavour to trace India’s history since 1984 with emphasis on the contribution of Hyderabadis, especially in 40s and 50s when the great coach, S.A. Rahim, guided the destiny of the national team.
“We were inspired by the feats of some of the greats from the city, including captains S.K. Azizuddin, Dronacharya and Arjuna awardee Syed Nayeemuddin, Shahid Waseem (son of coach Abdul Rahim), Mohammed Habib, and Dhyan Chand awardee Shabbir Ali,” said Amalraj, who joined them as the Indian captain later.
Interestingly, 60-year-old Amalraj himself is in the list of illustrious footballers from Secunderabad, which produced the likes of Peter Thangaraj, Tulasidas Balaram and D. Kannan.
The book is a humble effort to capture the glory of Hyderabad’s football history as well as the life and times of Amalraj himself. For the record, the midfielder par excellence of yesteryears, played for Kolkata for 14 years from 1978 to 1991 and also captained all the three famous clubs - Mohammedan Sporting, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan.
He also represented India in the 1981 President’s Cup, 1983 pre-Olympic tournament and led India in the 1983 President’s Cup in Bangladesh. Former Deputy Editor of The Hindu (Sports) Abhijit Sen Gupta assisted the star footballer in completing the book.
