Tulsidas Balaram

Balaram's performances against International teams are no less spectacular. He was one of the prime components of India's Gold winning team of 1962 Asian Games. He played every single game and scored goals against Thailand and Japan.

Balaram came during the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, anticipated his pass to make the scoreline 2–1. India didn't defeat Hungary but almost upset 58 World Cup semi-finalists France few days later. Balaram was again unstoppable as India held on to a 1–0 lead deep into second half. A mistake from Ram Bahadur denied India a famous victory.[5]

According to Balaram's best game for India, came against Hong Kong in the 1958 Asian Games. The match went into extra time after the scoreline was 2–2 during normal time. Balaram showed peak performance in extra time, assisting two goals and scoring once as India ran out 5–2 victors.

Famous journalist Ajay Basu described Balaram as 'superb inside forward'. Basu further said that his improvisation, industriousness and ability to hit curling shots were second to none. While Chuni Goswami had more flair in his play, Balaram had more variety and versatility.

Former India International and eminent defender Arun Ghosh described Balaram as a man who had two eyes on the back of his head – so good was his ball distribution. He was also the heart of his teams, directing every attacking move.

In 1961, Balaram was selected as East Bengal captain – he led from the front and played one of his best ever seasons. He top scored with 23 goals, won the league’s best player award and also led his club to do a double over Mohun Bagan. His popularity among the Red & Golds faithful knew no bounds. In early 60s, Mohun Bagan's Dhiren De once tried hard to sign Balaram for the club.

Balaram retired in 1963 owing to health related issues. His absence was strongly felt by the Indian team at the AFC Asian Cup the following year.

For a footballer whose popularity and performances in all versions of the game has few parallels, Balaram's life is full with far too many cases of shoddy treatment. Some of it took place during his playing days, incredibly.[6]

Selected international goals

Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition	Goals
26 May 1958	Korakuen Velodrome, Tokyo	Burma	3–2	1958 Asian Games	1 [7]
30 May 1958	Tokyo Football Stadium, Tokyo	Hong Kong	5–2	1958 Asian Games	1 [7]
1 June 1958	National Stadium, Tokyo	Indonesia	1–4	1958 Asian Games	1 [7]
31 August 1959	Kuala Lumpur, Malaya	Singapore	2–0	1959 Merdeka Tournament	1 [8]
21 August 1960	Rome, Italy	Tunisia	2–2	International Friendly	2 [9]
26 August 1960	L'Aquila, Italy	Hungary	1–2	Olympic Football Tournament Rome 1960	1 [10]
1 September 1960	Pescara, Italy	Peru	1–3	Olympic Football Tournament Rome 1960	1 [11]
28 August 1962	Senayan Stadium, Jakarta	Thailand	4–1	1962 Asian Games	1 [12]
29 August 1962	Senayan Stadium, Jakarta	Japan	2–0	1962 Asian Games	1 [13]

As coach of Calcutta Mayor's XI Balaram played a part in bringing up players like Basudev Mandal and Sangram Mukherjee. However, he had to face hurdles in every step. When a youth team under his coaching got an invitation to play in Germany, his visa was denied by Indian Govt. AIFF under Priyaranjan Dasmunshi refused to clear his visa on time. His team eventually played wonderfully in Berlin, remaining unbeaten in four games. Two years back he finally received some much needed recognition from East Bengal club though he is yet to receive his Padma Shri, according to a short interview published in Anandabazar Patrika in 2001.

• Tulsidas Balaram at FIFA (archived)
• Tulsidas Balaram at Olympedia