| Nandhakumar’s test starts now  Nandhakumar Sekar scores against Mohun Bagan in the 132nd Durand Cup. East Bengal's new signing got the match's only goal to help the team end an eight-game losing run in the Kolkata derby. Source: Samir Jana/HT For Nandhakumar Sekar, the distance between relative anonymity and fame was a little over 40 yards. By last Saturday, he had played for India but not often in a starting role and rarely in a starring role. That changed in the Kolkata derby. This was a match Nandhakumar said he would watch on television: a full house of a football stadium as noisy as it is nervous. To be the hero in such a game at the first time of trying, one that ended over 1600 days of hurt can do things to people. Ask Kiyan Nassiri. In a stadium eerily silent because of Covid-19, Mohun Bagan’s young star scored a hattrick against East Bengal nearly 19 months ago. Every time he takes the field, that feat finds mention. Nassiri may want to forget that hattrick, as he said in an interview to the website Sportskeeda, because it is done, but he won’t be allowed to. So, Nandhakumar’s test begins now. East Bengal have survived the group stage of the 132nd Durand Cup, beating ISL and I-League champions in four days. Green shoots after several barren seasons? Maybe, but only if the squad and the coaching staff don’t let this go to their heads. A lot hinges on how coach Carles Cuadrat deals with it. A lot would also hinge on how Nandhakumar deals with it.  Nandhakumar Sekar leads the celebrations after scoring against Mohun Bagan in the 132nd Durand Cup.(Source: Samir Jana / HT) One season wonders For we have been there before. Many times. Togolese Gley Yao Rodrigue left Mohun Bagan within four months of scoring in his first derby in 2005. Fresh from playing in the 2018 World Cup, Costa Rica’s Jhonny Acosta lasted seven months at East Bengal after scoring against Mohun Bagan in the 2-2 draw in September 2018. In the same Kolkata league game, Pintu Mahata scored for Mohun Bagan and was adjudged player of the match in his first Kolkata derby. Mahata left next season for East Bengal but played less than 10 games. At 26, one year younger than Sekar, he plays for Rajasthan United after stints at Sudeva Delhi and the Indian Navy. Do Dong-hyun came, saw and conquered the 2015 Kolkata league helping East Bengal win the title. That campaign included two stunning goals from free-kicks against Mohun Bagan, East Bengal winning 4-0. Next term, he was in Malaysia. Now 29, Do plays in the fourth tier of Korean football. Nandhakumar’s ability to play on both flanks, being comfortable with shooting both feet, scoring from range, and speed will make him a handful. His speed stood out from when he was with Hindustan Eagles in the Chennai league. Shooting with both feet – check out his goal for Odisha FC against Bengaluru FC here – has improved as has the accuracy of crosses and goal contributions. Against a Bangladesh Army team, his first match for East Bengal, Nandhakumar might have been too eager to impress. Cuadrat kept the faith in him and Nandhakumar course-corrected in the derby. Against Punjab FC, he was comfortable providing protection to wingback Harmanjot Khabra. The Chennai years At East Bengal, he is known for being disciplined. His biggest advantage though could be the years of grind in the Chennai league. One that included playing unheralded five-a-side tournaments in Chennai. Success took its time in reaching Nandhakumar unlike, say, Anwar Ali who did his reputation no harm against Machhindra FC. Nandhakumar would know that in the season of the Asian Cup, he will have stiff competition from Manvir Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan, his East Bengal mate Mahesh Naorem, Udanta Singh and Lallinazuala Chhangte to be India’s wide players. It will need the kind of focus Mohammed Habib, who died on Tuesday aged 74, was legendary for. Should that happen, he may join the ranks of Mihir Bose, Kiron Khongsai and IM Vijayan: players who scored in their first Kolkata derby but are remembered for so much more. Overseas Indians’ database Like Nandhakumar, two things, apparently unconnected, were in the news recently. Midfielder Brandon Khela became the first British South Asian to play for Championship club Birmingham City when he came on as a substitute in their 2-0 win against Cheltenham Town in the Carabao Cup. And All India Football Federation (AIFF) formed a task force to see if it is possible to get Indians born abroad to play for the national team. Headed by Samir Thapar, who heads Punjab Football Association and whose team JCT once ruled the Indian club scene, the task force has till January 31 to create a database on footballers of Indian origin playing abroad. Thapar’s involvement could get the Punjabi diaspora into looking at India as an option. Malvind Benning, Sarpreet Singh, Harmeet Singh, Yan Dhanda and Tanvi Hans are professional players who have played or are playing in Europe who have Punjabi lineage and this list is by no means complete. Bhupinder Singh Gill is a match official who has worked in the Premier League. The task force’s report could be a baby step in getting Indians born abroad to play for national teams. Or it may lead to nowhere. But after years of citing laws of the land as reason to not look at this option – India does not allow dual citizenship which can work as a disincentive because it would mean players having to surrender passports of the countries they were born in – AIFF has had a change of mind. “We will first form a comprehensive database on the OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) footballers around the world, and then look for the best possible ways to use such players to take Indian football forward,” federation president Kalyan Chaubey has said. | 
