Ranjit Das (; born 29 October 1932) is a former

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. He represented the East Pakistan football team from 1955 to 1962, and also served as captain of the team.

Early life

Ranjit Das was born on 29 October 1932 in

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, the fifth and youngest child of Kamala Kant Das and Vasantilata Das. In 1947, he got an opportunity to play

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for Town Club. Nonetheless, his cricket career ended following the

1947 Sylhet referendum The 1947 Sylhet referendum was held in Sylhet District of the Assam Province of British India to decide whether the district would remain in undivided Assam and therefore within the post-independence Dominion of India, or leave Assam for Ea ...

, as a large part of the elite body who managed cricket moved to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Club career

Early career

On 7 August 1954, Ranjit represented Town Club in the final of a local tournament against United Friends Club in

Habiganj Habiganj (), is a major town and district headquarters of Habiganj District in the division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Total population of Habiganj is about 86,000. Railroad * Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–Balla line Shaistaganj-Habiganj rai ...

. His team won the game 1–0, with Ranjit's performance against the opposing team's striker, Balai Das, a member of the East Pakistan football team, standing out. Following the game, he was offered a position to play for Merchant Club and crossed the border to

Agartala Agartala (, , ) is the capital and the List of cities and towns in Tripura, largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora River, Haora/Saidra River, about east of the border ...

, where his team tied goalless in an exhibition game against hosts Birendra Club. This game was observed by

S. D. Burman Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. He was a member of the Tripura royal family, but his father was excluded from the throne. He started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He lat ...

, who later praised Ranjit's performance. In 1955,

East Bengal Club East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's association football, football team that competes in the Indian ...

from

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

played an invitational match in

Comilla Comilla (), officially spelled Cumilla, is a metropolis on the banks of the Gomti River in eastern Bangladesh. Comilla was one of the cities of ancient Bengal. It was once the capital of Tripura kingdom. Comilla Airport is located in the Duli ...

. Ranjit, representing the hosts, Comilla XI, kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 victory. In the same year, he represented Ispahani Club in the Dhaka First Division League and played four games before the league was suspended due to a flood.

Azad Sporting Club

In 1956, Ranjit joined Azad Sporting Club, a team that was composed entirely of

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

players at the time. He captained the team in both 1957 and 1958, and during the latter year, he led them to their sole First Division title. The team, which included notable players such as S. A. Jamman Mukta, Tajul Islam Manna, Khandoker Abul Hasan, and other representatives of the East Pakistan football team, managed to outperform traditional giants

Dhaka Mohammedan Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in Dhaka. Founded in 1936, it is one of the oldest and the most successful football club in the country, with a support base in all parts of the country. Th ...

and Dhaka Wanderers. They secured the league title with a 3–2 victory in the play-off game against Central Station & Printing Press.

Dhaka Mohammedan

In 1958, Ranjit represented Dhaka Mohammedan at the

IFA Shield The IFA Shield is a football competition organized by the Indian Football Association, the football governing body in the Indian state of West Bengal. The IFA came into existence in 1893, and was named after the association. The IFA Shield to ...

. The team reached the quarter-finals but eventually lost 0–3 to

Kolkata Mohammedan Mohammedan Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as Mohammedan, is an Indian multi-sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club is best known for their professional men's football section which competes in the Indian Super League, the t ...

. Nonetheless, due to his impressive performances, he was acquired as a guest player by the Kolkata-based side for the

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

held in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. Prior to that, Ranjit had represented Tripura XI in the IFA Shield. In 1959, he was part of the Dhaka Mohammedan team, which won both the First Division and

Aga Khan Gold Cup The Aga Khan Gold Cup was a tournament played in Dhaka, Bangladesh which invited the club sides from leading football nations of Asia to compete. Many renowned football pundits regard this competition as a predecessor of the AFC Champions League ...

title.

Retirement

In 1960, Ranjit returned to Azad Sporting Club. He represented the club in the Aga Khan Gold Cup that same year and went on to spend the following four years as a player-cum-coach. In 1963 and 1964, Ranjit coached Khandoker Mohammad Nurunnabi, who became the club's first-choice goalkeeper, overtaking his spot.

International career

East Pakistan football team for the 1955 Pakistan National Football Championship

Ranjit first represented the

East Pakistan football team The East Pakistan football team () was a provincial team operated by the East Pakistan Sports Federation (EPSF) and represented East Pakistan in national and international matches from 1948 till the Independence of Bangladesh in 1971, which led to ...

at the sixth National Football Championship held in

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur (Urdu: ; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, 8th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division. Founded in ...

. His team exited the tournament from the quarter-finals after suffering a 1–3 defeat to Baluchistan on 21 November 1955. He was also an integral part of the East Pakistan Whites, the eventual runners-up at the eighth National Football Championship held in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

. The team captained by Mari Chowdhury, lost the final 1–2 to Punjab on 10 November 1957. On 15 December 1957, Ranjit represented East Pakistan Sports Federation XI in an exhibition match against

in Dhaka. He produced a man of the match performance in a 1–1 draw, denying the likes of

Abid Ghazi Abid Hussain Ghazi (; 1934 – 14 January 2016) was a Pakistani footballer who played as a midfielder. He is considered one of the greatest Pakistani footballers of the 1950s and 1960s, and also captained the Pakistan national football team. Ea ...

and

Mohammed Rahmatullah Mohammad Rahmatullah was an Indian footballer who played as a forward, and manager. Rahmatullah played for the India national team and spent most of his career with Calcutta Football League giant Mohammedan Sporting. He later appeared with ...

on numerous occasions. On 5 April 1958, Ranjit was among six players from East Pakistan selected by the PFF for a training camp in preparation for the Tokyo Asian Games. Nonetheless, he failed to make the final squad. In the ninth National Football Championship held in

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

, the East Pakistan team was knocked out by Punjab Reds, the junior team of defending champions Punjab. In the game held on 15 November 1958, East Pakistan lost 1–3, with vice-captain Ranjit's lack of height being blamed for conceding the first two goals. In the tenth National Football Championship held in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, East Pakistan lost the final to Baluchistan on 7 November 1959. Ranjit was again blamed for the team's defeat, misjudging an aerial clearance that ended up being the only goal scored in the game. Ranjit was made second choice goalkeeper to Siddique at the eleventh National Football Championship held in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

. The team eventually went on to win their maiden title by defeating Karachi White 1–0 in the final held on 27 November 1960. Ranjit later represented East Pakistan XI in an exhibition game against the touring Burma national team in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

on 25 January 1961. The game ended in a 1–9 defeat, with winger Liton scoring the home team's only goal.

Coaching career

In 1968, Ranjit coached the East Pakistan Youth football team to a runners-up place in the Pakistan National Youth Football Championship (East Zone). In the final held at Mymensingh Stadium, his team lost 0–1 to East Pakistan Combined University. He also served as the head coach of Azad Sporting Club in the 1970s.

Post-retirement

Following the foundation of the

Bangladesh Football Federation Bangladesh Football Federation (, ''Bānglādesh fūṭbôl fēḍārēshôn'') is the governing body that administers the sport of association football in Bangladesh. It is in charge of running the country's men's and women's national teams, ...

(BFF) on 15 July 1972, Ranjit was elected as its Joint Secretary. He played a major role in selecting the first

Bangladesh national football team The Bangladesh national football team () is the national recognised football team of Bangladesh and is controlled by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). It is a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) since 1973 and of FIFA sin ...

in 1973, alongside

Nabi Chowdhury Nurunnabi Chowdhury (; 1934 – January 2003), better known as Nabi Chowdhury, was a former Bangladeshi football player and the first East Pakistani or Bengali to captain the Pakistan national football team. Early life Nabi Chowdhury was born in ...

Sheikh Shaheb Ali Sheikh Shaheb Ali (; 1 July 1915 – 1 June 2004) was a Bangladeshi association football, football player and coach. He is the only East Pakistani to have both played for and coached the Pakistan national football team. He was the first head coac ...

and Manzur Hasan Mintu. In 1981, he was again nominated as a member of the federation's executive committee.

Honours

Azad Sporting Club * Dhaka First Division League: 1958 Dhaka Mohammedan * Dhaka First Division League: 1959 *

: 1959 East Pakistan *

National Championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

: 1960 Individual * National Sports Award: 2007 * Grameenphone – Prothom Alo Sports Lifetime award of the Year: 2006

Hockey career

Ranjit joined the

National Bank of Pakistan National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of December 2022, it has over 1,500 branches across Paki ...

as an officer in 1959. He also played as a goalkeeper for the bank's

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

team and won the Dhaka First Division League in both 1963 and 1965. In 1967, he got a chance to play for the East Pakistan hockey team and was eventually appointed as the team's captain the following year. He represented the team in the Pakistan National Hockey Championship. Ranijit retired from the game after representing the Sylhet hockey team in 1979.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Ranjit Living people 1932 births Sportspeople from Sylhet Footballers from Sylhet Division Bangladeshi men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Mohammedan SC (Dhaka) players Mohammedan SC (Kolkata) players Bangladeshi expatriate men's footballers Pakistani expatriate men's footballers Bangladeshi expatriate sportspeople in India Pakistani expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate men's footballers in India Bangladeshi male field hockey players Bangladeshi Hindus Recipients of the Bangladesh National Sports Award 20th-century Bangladeshi sportsmen