Chiraag Paul: Living a dream

It was two degrees below freezing point and the Manchester United squad was warming up before the English Premier League (EPL) kick-off against Birmingham City Football Club at the latter’s St Andrews Stadium last season.

When Paul Scholes kicked the ball in his direction, Chiraag Paul, among the Birmingham City youth players helping the Man U stars limber up, couldn’t believe his luck. Scholes was Chiraag’s childhood hero.

“It was for real and I felt I had lived my dream,” recalls the 18-year-old Calcutta boy, who last year became the “first Asian to get a full and unconditional scholarship” to study and train to become a professional footballer in England.

The dream, though, could have just begun. Chiraag has now been selected for the Birmingham City Reserves team, bringing him to within a shot of first-team action. With The Blues poised for a return to Premier League action next season, the youngster from Santoshpur might get a taste of the big thing, should club boss Steve Bruce dig into the Reserves.

Even though Bruce has “personally asked” about his progress, Chiraag is keeping his feet firmly on the turf. “My only concern is to try and stay injury-free this season,” the boy, back home for a short Christmas break, tells Metro.

His preferred position is “in the hole”, but Chiraag was played “in every position from right back to left out” last season. “This pre-season, they have tried me in central midfield in a holding role and I’m enjoying it,” smiles the youngster, for whom the Midlands club has organised the mandatory two-year academic course to go with the soccer training.

Chiraag has started every game this season, with beating the Liverpool Youths 1-0 being the high point for the footballer who marvels at the work ethic and discipline of the Wast Hills training grounds and feels “technically and tactics-wise much stronger” this season.

If and when a call-up for first-team action comes, he must have represented India in the last seven international ties as a pre-condition set by the English Football Association. “Playing for the country would be the biggest achievement of my life and I would do anything to play for India,” says Chiraag.

Now, it’s time to return to the grind in Birmingham. But Chiraag isn’t complaining. “Saying I’ve been lucky is an understatement,” he smiles.