Indian Player of the Season: ATK

The champions ATK FC were a fierce side throughout the tournament. They were organized in each and every department, per se, be it the Defense or the Attack; the chemistry within the team was clearly visible on the pitch. There were brilliant individual performances but the one which standed out from the rest was definitely the Indian Player of the Season: ‘PRABIR DAS’.

The Journey…

Prabir started his senior career as an Eighteen year old with the Pailan Arrows. He appeared for 24 games and scored a goal throughout his time at the Pailan arrows. Later on he earned a move to the highly enthusiastic footballing state of Goa. He played for the Dempos from 2013 to 2015 out of which he was loaned out for majority of the time to the ISL sides FC Goa and Delhi Dynamos respectively.

Upward and Onwards…

The big breakthrough for Prabir came in when he joined the then Bengal Giants Mohun Bagan on a two year contract. We saw his dramatic rise with the Mohun Bagan as he played as much as 26 games and he also managed to catch some eyeballs from the top tier league. He got a yet another loan offer from the ATK FC in the year 2016 and it practically changed the fortunes for this pure talent.

The ATK Days…

Joining ATK as a loanee and ending up as one of the most vital cog in the Playing 11 literally sums up the journey for Prabir Das. But there were some ups and downs throughout this rollercoaster ride. He won the 2016 Indian Super League with the ATK after being substituted in around halftime. Prabir suffered a huge blow before the 2018/19 ISL season as he met with a knee injury during ATK’s pre season at Spain. He had to stay away from the game for the whole season at the times when he was considered to be at the peak of his career timeline. But he never gave up, considered to be a man of grit he came back and played the Durand Cup in which he also scored once.

Heroics at the ISL 2019/20:

Then came the brightest span of his career , the 2019/20 season.The 26 year old Wing Back was crucial for the champions as his contributions were pretty instrumental in their title chase. With Antonio Habas coming back to Kolkata, Prabir made sure to repeat the history and re establish himself in the top tier league. Prabir was probably the best Right Back in the league as his tremendous skills and pace left the opponents in sixes and sevens.His crossing abilities were so good that whenever we saw Prabir sprinting down the flank we knew that a goal was supposed to get added in ATK’s tally. With 5 assists to his name Prabir re instilldveryone’s faith. He got the much awaited National team call up ahead of the Qatar game which was scheduled on 26th March. Although it got cancelled due to the global pandemic, Prabir has certainly earned a spot in Igor Stimac’s notebooks. Winning the title by beating Chennaiyin FC Prabir Das definitely showed us how dedication and hardwork can help us create wonders.

Numbers never lie: Indian Player of the Season

Here are some of his stats from the 2019/20 ISL season:

“Of course, there are several other things that can motivate a player. For a footballer, surgeries are very common but it was a challenge for me to come back from there. But I was never depressed during the injury. I worked hard and happily, came back from there.” To quote some of his words, this is what Prabir Das had to say recalling his hard times. Its rightly said the Hard work pays off and we have a sheer example in the man himself.

Do let us know in the comments below how would you rate his incredible performance. Stay tuned!