Tulsidas Balaram, legendary Indian footballer, passes away aged 86

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Tulsidas Balram, one of the country's finest footballers and a member of the golden era (1951-1962) of Indian football, passed away on February 16 due to multiple organ failure in Kolkata. He was 86 years old.

An overview of the news

• He played in two Olympics in 1956 and 1960 and reached the pinnacle of Asian football when India, under the guidance of legendary coach Syed Abdul Rahim, won the Asian Games gold in Jakarta, beating South Korea 2-1 in 1962.

• He was also a part of the Indian football team in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics.

• In the 1960 Rome Olympics, he scored spectacular goals against Hungary and Peru.

• He also captained the country's famous football club East Bengal based in Kolkata.

• He was called by the name of Chunni Goswami, PK Banerjee and Tulsidas Balram 'Holy Trinity' (Trimurti).

• Balram, who was awarded the Arjuna Award, had a great performance in the 1960 Rome Olympics.

• India, who were drawn in the 'Group of Death' along with Hungary, France and Peru, lost 1-2 to Hungary in the first match, but Balram got himself into the pages of history by scoring a goal in the 79th minute.

• Balram mostly played as 'Center Forward' or 'Left Winger'.

• Due to tuberculosis, his career lasted only for 8 years (1955 to 1963) and he had to say goodbye to the game at the age of 27.

• Born on 4 October 1936 in Ammuguda village of Garrison City, Secunderabad to a Tamil family, Balaram scored 131 goals, including 14 for India, in seven seasons.