Former India captain Pradip Kumar Banerjee's health deteriorates

Kolkata: Former Indian football team captain Pradip Kumar Banerjee's health condition has deteriorated, according to his family. The footballer popular as PK has been undergoing treatment at Kolkata's Medica Superspecialty Hospital since March 2, 2020.

A family source told PTI that PK "is very critical at the moment." West Bengal sports minister and senior Trinamool Congress leader Arup Biswas visited PK at the hospital on Monday.

The June 23, 1936, born PK Banerjee also suffers from Parkinson's disease, dementia and has a heart problem. The former Indian captain was a member of the goal medal-winning team in the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta. PK represented India in 84 international matches and scored 65 goals.

He was honoured with Arjuna Award in 1961 for his contribution to Indian football and in 1990 received Padma Shri. PK Banerjee was named the Indian Footballer of the 20th century by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) while the FIFA honoured him with FIFA Order of Merit in 2004 and also named him the Player of the Millennium in 2005. He is also only Indian footballer to have received the International Fair Play Award from the Olympic Committee.

Born in Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, PK Banerjee studied in Jalpaiguri Zilla School before moving to Jamshedpur in Bihar (now Jharkhand) where he enrolled in KMPM school.

PK Banerjee was just 15 when he was selected in the Bihar football team and played in Santosh Trophy. After honing his skills at the junior level, PK Banerjee moved to Kolkata (then Calcutta) where he joined Aryan club in 1954 and then went on to play for Eastern Railway.

The youngster soon made a mark and was picked up in the national team at the age of 19 and played in the 1955 Quadrangular tournament in Dhaka. He went on to play for India in three Asian Games - 1958 Tokyo, 1962 Jakarta and 1966 Bangkok.

He also was part of the national team in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and then captained the team at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He also played at Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur where India won two silver medals in 1959 and 1964 while it came third to claim bronze in 1965.

He retired in 1967 following a series on injuries and then took up the job of coaching with his first team being East Bengal Football Club. He later went on to coach East Bengal's arch-rivals Mohan Bagan Athletic Club which under his guidance won the IFA Shield, Rovers Cup and Durand Cup in one season.