A tale of long throw-ins
Spectators can still recall ex-national team defenders Abul Hossain, Alamgir Hasan and Belal Ahmed, obviously not for their spectacular performances; but rather for their famous long throw-ins which always posed a threat to the opposition backline.
In the recent past, Raihan Hasan had emerged with the same skill, releasing long throw-ins into the opponent's danger zone, and now Bishwanath Ghosh has entered the scene. Bishwanath has begun to hog the limelight with his long throw-ins in the ongoing SAFF Suzuki Cup. One of his throw-ins found its way to centre-back Tapu Barman, who then headed the national team to a 1-0 win over Pakistan on Thursday.
Interestingly, all five of the aforementioned players were defenders. Raihan, now a national discard, has been mentoring Bishwanath, who has been inspired to play great football and master the long throw-in by the Abahani defender. However, the 20-year-old has virtually dethroned his mentor to secure a place in the team.
“I have a belief that anyone can score by availing my long throw-ins whenever I go to the touchline. I'm really happy that Tapu Bhai finally scored to give Bangladesh a win, though the initial plan was for him to flick it while the second man would rush to head it home,” Bishwanath told The Daily Star yesterday.
Bishwanath, who started taking such throw-ins during his time with the under-19 team, flourished during his debut professional football league season with Mohammedan SC in 2016-17. He was also instrumental in the 1-1 draw against Thailand in the Asian Games. In that match, Mahbubur Rahman Sufil flicked Bishwanath's long throw-in home.
Ahead of the throw-in, Bishwanath urged the spectators to applaud loudly as he believed it has an impact on the match.
“I did it to get inspired by the home spectators as I was playing in front of such a big crowd for the first time. Playing in front of such a crowd is always a different experience for any player. I'm happy after assisting a goal in an international match for the first time but I already got such an assist during a 1-1 draw against Thailand in the Asian Games.
“Another reason was to distract the Pakistani players. When we played in the Asian Games, I saw Indonesia were down 2-1 against the UAE at one stage but after the home crowd supported them loudly from the gallery, the UAE made mistakes and Indonesia bounced back, making the UAE players look nervous in the last moments. The match eventually entered shootouts,” said the lad from Tangail, who admitted Raihan has done a lot to ensure his rise to this stage.
“Raihan Bhai and I are from the same ground and the same area of Santosh village of Tangail. I never saw a throw-in by Belal or Alamgir Bhai but I have been inspired to attempt long throw-ins by Raihan Bhai, who helped me grow as a footballer from my childhood and brought me to Dhaka for the national age-level teams trial,” said Bishwanath, who represented Bangladesh at the U-12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 19 levels.
The right-back is now a part of the national team following two seasons at the top flight with Mohammedan SC and Sheikh Russel KC.
