Nawabs of the beautiful game

Former footballer PP Surender Kumar compiled the lives and achievements of Hyderabadi players, who put the place, a country on the world’s football map. His book ‘Hyderabadis Contribution to Indian Football’ is a fitting way to remind the younger generation of lost heroes of the beautiful game

Indian football has a glorious past, the 50s, 60s and even 70s have produced some exhilarating moments that made analysts and fans drool over the beautiful game. In the words of noted football analyst Novy Kapadia, “In the 50s and 60s, the playing style of the Indian team was reminiscent to that of Brazil and came to the moniker, ‘Brazil of Asia’. Much of this is down to the bunch of players that came from Hyderabad, who formed the spine of the team.”

Hyderabad and Hyderabadi players defined Indian football, the likes of Coach S A Rahim, goalkeeper Peter Thangaraj, T Balaram and others have made an indelible mark on the game. Mumbai-based Hyderabadi and former footballer PP Surender Kumar has authored a book ‘Hyderabadis Contribution to Indian Football’ in a bid to re-introduce the stalwarts to the young.

Surender, who is more popularly known as Gopi in soccer circles, says in the forward that he was inspired by former hockey international D’ Cruz’s book ‘Goans in Sports’ and was keen to rekindle memories of what he believes to be the golden era of Indian football thanks to Hyderabadis. “The history of Indian football will be incomplete without reference to these great Hyderabadis,” he insists proudly recalling how the great coach SA Rahim shaped the raw talent from the by-lanes of Secunderabad Cantonment and the old city into champion players.

He traced the days of yore and showcased the rise and fall of Hyderabad football to the younger generation and all budding footballers. Surender made stupendous efforts to bring out the book. The 85-page book essentially features profiles of the finest footballers from Hyderabad who left an indelible impression on the world of football till the ’70s and they include Olympians SA Rahim, KP Dhanraj, Noor Mohammed, Peter Thangaraj, T Balaram, SK Azizuddin, Zulfikaruddin to name a few and tracing a few nostalgic memories based on Surendra Kumar’s interaction with their near and dear.

He toiled and travelled a lot to piece together the historical background, recollections from those alive, the football culture then and over the years, training regimen and the enthusiasm of the fans, who actually paid to watch matches in the twin cities, apart from the unique features that prevailed in the golden period, whose beginning of the end could be traced to 1982.

Surender’s adulation towards SA Rahim was evident in the way he chronicled the life of the legendary coach and he wished that the legend would be conferred with a posthumous award in recognition to the services to Indian football.

The book, in a nutshell, is an attempt to chronicle the glorious past to inspire the young crop of footballers. Barring typos that come often, the book is an engaging read and Surender has to be lauded for his efforts to bring back the long lost heroes into the limelight.

By Aditya Parankusam