Obituary:
By Novy Kapadia.

Legendery defender of the 1950's Byomkesh Bose died of a heart attack in Calcutta on 3rd October 2003. He has been ailing for 12 years and had a pacemaker in his heart.
Byomkesh played for East Bengal (1948-58) and represented India in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He played in an era when the two back system was in vogue and Indian clubs played in the 2-3-5 formation. As a defender Byomkesh was noted for his sound anticipation and interception and impeccable timing of his tackles.
He was captain of East Bengal when they won India's oldest tournament the Durand Cup for the first time in 1951. In the 1951 Durand Cup final East Bengal beat Rajasthan Club, Calcutta, 1-1 and 2-1 in the replay. Byomkesh also excelled the next year in the Durand Cup when East Bengal again emerged champions beating Hyderabad City Police, 1-0 in the final. In the 1952 Durand Final Byomkesh played an outstanding game and foiled Hyderabad Police's brilliant forwards, Moin, Laiq, Doraiswamy and Surray (Sr.).
His contemporaries, internationals Nikhil Nandy and S. (Paltu) Roy recalled that Byomkesh's best game was in the 1951 IFA Shield final against Mohun Bagan. The first match ended 0-0. In the replay Saleh scored two goals for East Bengal in the first ten minutes. Mohun Bagan then attacked relentlessly for the rest of the match but Byomkesh prevented them from scoring with his outstanding positional play and defensive abilities.
Nikhil Nandy said that Byomkesh did not play in India's first eleven in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, as Sailen Manna and S.K. Azizuddin were preferred. However in a friendly match against an Austrian XI after the Olympics, Byomkesh excelled and helped India win 4-1. After 1952 Byomkesh got busy with his office work and his involvement with football gradually declined. Nikhil Nandy feels that if Byomkesh has remained active in football after 1952 he could have been an even greater defender.