My dad remains an inspiration: Sarthak

“He has always been there to back me and remains an inspiration. He remembers each and every move I make during the course of the 90 minutes. And when I call him after the game, he would point out all the mistakes I did which even I won’t be able to recollect (laughs),” said Sarthak. 

Speaking on how he got hooked to the sport, the Bengal lad said, “My father was also a footballer. He has represented small teams in the Calcutta Premier League. I started to travel with him to the ground when I was five. It got a feel of the ball only because of him and that is how I fell in love with it.” 

FCPC has been one of the tightest defensive outfits in ISL Season 4, having kept five clean sheets in its 14 games thus far. But the bulk of the contribution has come from the Indian players unlike other franchises which field a minimum of two overseas players at the back. 

Commenting on the faith that coach Ranko Popovic has on the Indian lads, he added, “The coach believes in every one of us. He is more focussed on developing the junior players who are part of our squad. I think we are the only side which plays three Indians in the defence.” 

The defender, who once dreamt of playing for a local side in the CPL, now finds himself partnering former Getafe captain Rafael Lopez. “It has been wonderful playing alongside Rafa. He is such an experienced defender. He is the best centre back I have ever played with,” Sarthak appears to be relishing his partnership with the Spaniard. 

The 20-year-old believes debutant Jamshedpur FC is the toughest side to break the deadlock against. The new-entrant currently tops the chart with six clean sheets among the ten participating teams. “ Jamshedpur has a great tactician in Steve Coppell who was earlier associated with the Kerala Blasters in the ISL. His mentality is to prevent the opponent from scoring and that makes it the most difficult team to score against,” asserted the former Mohun Bagan player. 

One striking feature of India’s premier football tournament has been the presence of overseas stars from all over the world. “We have got top-notch foreign players who have had such great careers outside India. They share their inputs on how to react to various situations on the pitch. It has been a great learning experience for me,” he signed off.