Malkhanagar

Hemanga Basu Thakur

Sri Kishori Mohan Basu Thakur had seven sons. All of his sons were good in sports. But among them his fourth son Sri Hemanga Basu Thakur was the best. He was born in Malkhanagarh in 1898. He passed his matric examination from the school in the village and then passed his I.E examination from Dhaka College. He used to play both cricket and football for his college team. After finishing his time in Dhaka College he came to Kolkata and got admitted in Vidyasagar College. Here also he was elected Captain of both cricket and football team of his college. His stories as a player was so elaborate and colourful that it will take up a lot of spaces and chapters to describe all his feats.

During that time Indian Cricket Board was not founded. Cricket was not so popular in all the states in India. In 1922 the first Interstate Cricket Tournament was organized in Nagpur. In that tournament teams from Bombay, Madhya Pradesh and Madras took part along with the team from Bengal. In the Bengal team all the players were English. Only three Bengali players were selected – Sri Soilojah Ray, Sri Hemanga Basu Thakur & Sri R. Mukherjee. In this tournament he made a record against the Madhya Pradesh – Madras team when he took seven wickets for only 15 runs.

In Calcutta there was a great attraction when a match was played between the British school and Bengali school. Sri Hemanga Basu Thakur captained the Bengali school nine times. He was unbeaten in all the matches. In 1925-26 MCC cricket team under the leadership of Gilligan toured Kolkata. Sri Hemanga Basu Thakur played for the combined Anglo-Bengali team against the MCC team. He had a beautiful cover drive. He was also good in batting. He made many centuries even he couldn’t give the exact count of his centuries. Not only in bowling and batting he was also good in fielding. At that time in Kolkata no one was better than slip fielding like he was. He was the all-rounder.

He was also good in playing football and while in Dhaka College he played with Sri S.B.S.Ray, Sri Charu Basu, Sri R.Sen and Sri Dasgupta in college team. He played football in other teams also. After he came to Kolkata he played regularly in Mohun Bagan club. You also played for the college team here. He used to play as a Centre forward or Right winger. In 1920 he played in the shield semi-final for Mohun Bagan football team. In the same year because of some problem with the management of the Mohun Bagan club he joined East Bengal club. While he was a captain there East Bengal club came to the first division for the first time. In 1924 the Indian football team toured Burma, state settlements, Java etc. and played a few match. Sri Hemanga Basu Thakur played the few matches there. And while playing for the Indian team he and Sri Robi Ganguly got injured and that is why he left football.

He used to play hockey and tennis well. He played as a full back for East Bengal club for a few years. In tennis he won against national champion Sohini in Kolkata.

When his age was more than forty years he stayed in Maimansingha. By then he already left sport. However, because of requests from the local people he played cricket for the local Panditpara club and in Dhaka for Victoria club. That year Bengal Gymkhana team consisting of Sri Shruti Banerjee, Sri Karthik Basu etc. toured Maimansingha. They couldn’t win against them because of Hemanga Basu Thakur. During a match between Dhaka Victoria club and Sporting Union he batted solidly and scored 75 runs. He also got 10 wickets in an innings in that match.

He died on 3rd of November, 1956 at the age of only 58 years. Pankaj Gupta who was a famous sports journalist at that time hugged his dead body and said that you have no idea how big cricketer you were. If you had the chance to play test cricket you would have been a number one choice.

Written By Parijart Moitra Published in East Bengal Samachar December 2019

Hemanga Basu, the fourth son of Kishori Mohan Basu Thakur, was born in 1896 in Malkhanagar, present day Bangladesh. He passed matriculation from a village school and passed IA from Dhaka College. There he became the captain of the football and cricket team at that college.

The Indian Cricket Board was not established then, the first inter-provincial cricket tournament was held in Nagpur in 1922. Bombay team, Madhya Pradesh and Madras combined team and Bengal team took part in it. There were only three Bengali players in the Bengal team those were: Shailja Roy, Hemanga Basu and R. Mukherjee and everyone else was an English player Hemanga Basu's 6 for 15 for the Bengal team against the Madhya Pradesh-Madras combined created a unique precedent. Not only bowling, but also Hemanga Basu’s batting and fielding were equally proficient. He scored many centuries in different cricket competitions against different teams at that time.

Let's come to football. He joined Mohun Bagan in 1920 .He played mainly in the forward and right wing position. In 1920 he played for Mohun Bagan in the IFA Shield semifinal.But at that time there was a disagreement with the authorities. In fact, at that time, the players who came from East Bengal were seen with a little contempt, the local players , without practice get chance in the main team during the match and he did not compromise with that and had protested, but he did not receive any answer, therefore he left Mohun Bagan club.

Hemanga Basu's brother (cousin's son) was Shailesh Basu, Shailesh Basu was one of the founders of East Bengal Club. Shailesh Basu also had a good reputation in playing football, cricket, hockey. Hemanga Basu came to East Bengal Club in 1924 at the invitation of Shailesh Basu.The same year he was elected captain of the team. Hemanga Basu played with pride in East Bengal Club from 1924 to 1928,

In 1924, East Bengal Club achieved great success by defeating Mohun Bagan 1-0 in the Kochbihar Cup, with Hemanga Basu scoring the winning goal.but this voctory nott took place in the history becasuse this tournament was not affiliated by IFA but .he day has become immortal in history,the day when a new club defeat a big club in India.

Those who played in the East Bengal team in the Kochbihar Cup in 1924: - Mani Talukder, Prafulla Chatterjee, Vijayhari Sen, S Nag, Nani Gosai, B Guha, Mona Mallick, Sudhir Mitra, Mona Dutt, Hemanga Basu (Captain), Nepal Chakraborty.

In the same year, under the captaincy of Hemanga Basu, East Bengal Club promoted from the second division to the first division League.

The complete list of the 1924 Second Division League :

Total Match Played - 24
Win -16 , Draw – 5, Defeat - 3
Goals in Favour - 32
Opposing Goals - 11
Total Point - 37
Status in the Tournament - Champion
Highest number of goals – Mona Dutta

Entered the First Division League in 1925, and the first derby recorded in the IFA on May 26, 1925, Mona Dutta was the captain in that year for East Bengal. East Bengal vs. Mohun Bagan In the first leg of the Kolkata League, Mohun Bagan was much better team compare to East Bengal., but with enthusiasm and frenzy, supporters of both teams filled the field, the game was enjoyable in the first half by attacks and counter-attacks and in one such attack,East Bengal's Surya Chakraborty's shot was blocked by one of the defender, and the ball came to Nepal Chakraborty, he took the shot and the ball found the net by beating the Mohunbagan's goalkeeper Bhaduri. East Bengal went ahead with one goal. Mohun Bagan made several attacks in the second half but all attacks were thwarted by East Bengal goalkeeper P Das. Some of East Bengal's attacks again blocked Mohun Bagan's central back, Pal. East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan by one goal Surya Chakraborty, Nepal Chakraborty, P Das Mona Dutt and Hemanga Basu played brilliantly for East Bengal in the first leg of the Kolkata League.

Those who played in the East Bengal team in that game :

East Bengal team: P Das, P Chatterjee, S Ganguly, Haran Saha, Noni Gosai, B Sen, Surya Chakraborty,Hemanga Basu, Mona Dutt, Nepal Chakraborty, M Mallick.

Hemanga Basu also played in the Indian football team. In the twenties, the Indian football team played a number of exhibition matches in Barma, Java, etc .Hemanga Basu was in that team and played in all the matches but in one of those match his leg was badly injured, and after that due to this injury, he could not return to the football field.

Hemanga Basu was an outstanding player in cricket, football as well as tennis and hockey. From 1924 to 1926, he played in the regular full back position of the East Bengal club hockey team.

In tennis, Hemanga Basu defeated the then national champion Sohni in a competition in Kolkata.

By 1935, at the age of about 40 he had moved to Mymensingh ( Bangladesh), he played in various cricket competitions for the local Panditpara and Victoria Club in Dhaka. He moved to Calcutta with his family in the late 1940s. Hemanga Basu's son Shivaji Basu was also a famous cricket player. He represented Bengal for many years.

Hemanga Basu was an expert in football, cricket, hockey and tennis. He was a man of many talents. Memories never fade; maybe they are forgotten for a while. The path begins ... So an attempt to present some aspects of Hemanga Basu's life to the present generation, which will bring the forgotten chapter of history to the fore again.