Dad pulls van, son carries nation’s U-17 Cup hopes

KOLKATA/BANDEL: The father is a van-rickshaw puller and part-time fish seller in the local market; the mother packs bidi bundles and does odd jobs. The son, Abhijit Sarkar, is the odd one out. He is one of the best bets in Indian junior

football

and a lot of India’s hopes in the

FIFA

Under 17-World Cup rests on his young shoulders.

Abhijit Sarkar is a 17-year-old lanky midfielder from Bandel in

Hooghly

who already has seven international goals to his name in 19 appearances and is set to be a part of the first XI that will take on the US at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on the opening day of the event on Friday.

“We are too poor to give him quality education or facilities. But he always had the passion for football and that made him carry on with the game even under extreme conditions. I am proud of him,” said Haren Sarkar, Abhijit’s father.

The only son of Haren and Aloka Sarkar, Abhijit started playing football since the age of five as he accompanied his cousin brother to the local Lenin Pally Banichakra Club. He soon caught the attention of the coach Ashok Mondal, who trained him. At 12, he was selected for the

Bengal

junior team. In 2013, when he was in Class VIII, he was selected by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) during a trial camp at Kalyani. He was one the few footballers from Bengal to be taken to the AIFF Elite Academy in Goa.

“I was never really fond of studies and often skipped classes to play football. My neighbours and relatives used to tell me the game can take me nowhere since I come from a very poor family. But my parents always supported me as I carried on with my passion,” said Abhijit.

Abhijit passed his Class X Boards in 2015 between his training. “He said he had to focus on his game. We did not object as we saw he had a hectic schedule of regular training and frequently had to travel abroad to play international matches,” said Haren. However, he added that though the country is rooting for his son, he would not be able to be at the stadium in Delhi this Friday. “My wife is ill and travelling to Delhi and watch him play is an expensive affair. If the match was in Kolkata, I would have gone.”

Aloka said earlier, she used to cry over her son but now she says she is a proud mother.