The Punjab lad's journey has been well documented after his transfer to Stabaek, but the custodian has to put a full-stop to the habit of dropping the clanger in key clashes.

OPINION

BY ATANU MITRA (@Atanu00)

It was one of those hot and humid afternoons at Kalyani. A couple of hours drive from Kolkata, the small town was hosting a series of I-League games in the early months of 2013, with Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Pailan Arrows and United Sports Club all using it as their home venue.

On the 29th of March, the Purple Brigade were playing host to the Red and Golds. It was a very important tie for Trevor Morgan's side who were three points behind league leaders Churchill Brothers having played one match more. A win in this tie would mean that the Kolkata side would have nullified the gap at the top.

The game started well for the century old club who had a 2-0 lead at the hour mark, courtesy goals from Chidi Edeh and Manandeep Singh. That is before Gurpreet Sandhu made a meal of an innocuous long ranger by Carlos Hernandez and the ball went into the net leaving the assembled East Bengal fans in agony. United scored another through Ranti Martins and East Bengal's I-League hopes were dealt a severe blow for the third season running.

The supporters didn't take it lightly and in typical Kolkata Maidan style, Gurpreet was the target of all abuses. But the Punjab lad was having one of the worst days of his career, and chose to show the middle finger in retaliation. This infuriated the fans even more which led to a lathi charge by police in order to control the situation. The East Bengal team bus had left by then and Gurpreet never got to know how an old lady was badly hurt after finding herself amidst the fracas that was caused by his moment of stupidity.

Three years later, on the same day, the Stabaek FC shot-stopper will start under the bar in India's key encounter against Turkmenistan in the joint qualifiers of World Cup 2018 and AFC Asian Cup 2019. With Stephen Constantine trying to build his new look India XI, the Punjab goalkeeper has looked one of the most impressive members of the squad and put in a great shift even though India lost 4-0 against Iran in its last qualifier on Thursday. The Blue Tigers have managed to earn only three points from their opening seven encounters in group stage and go into a do-or-die battle against the West Asian nation.

Gurpreet's talent has been lauded by all the coaches who have worked with him. Bob Houghton included him the AFC Asian Cup squad when he was only 18 years old and when there was almost no trace of the moustache that we see on his face now. The towering figure gradually made his way to the starting XI of East Bengal under the tutelage of Trevor James Morgan, but there was one attribute that was irking the club's faithful on a regular basis.

Gurpreet committed a number of blunders in the key ties, which took a massive toll on East Bengal's I-League title hopes. In January 2012, he went all the way down to the Prayag United (now United Sports) box to try his luck during an injury-time East Bengal corner. The Purple Brigade pulled off a quick counter attack and when Kayne Vincent was putting the ball into the net, Gurpreet was nowhere near and Soumik Dey was guarding the goal haplessly.

During East Bengal's AFC Cup quarter-final trip to Semen Padang, he gave away the ball to an opponent player only 25 yards away from goal while taking a goal-kick. East Bengal conceded from the move and had to wait for a James Moga strike to get bailed out. In March 2014, he spilled a harmless long-ranger in the game against arch-rivals Mohun Bagan and C.S.Sabeeth pounced on it to earn a point for the Mariners.

The similarity among all the above instances is clear. The former U-19 national team keeper had this knack of committing blunders in big fixtures - matches which were almost make or break for the Red and Golds.

Enter, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu 2.0. The shot-stopper has certainly improved his technique during his Norway stint and now faces little competition to keep his spot in the national team. His heroics against Guam and Iran have been assuring, however he will have to overcome his biggest flaw from his East Bengal days.

"Yes, his mistakes cost us the title that year," former India international Atanu Bhattacharya, who was Gurpreet's coach in East Bengal for four seasons, told Goal while discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the player.

"He has a great height and hence has a better reach that most other Indian keepers. I still remember his debut for East Bengal against BNR at the Howrah Stadium when he stopped a penalty as well. However, the one thing I have always told him to work upon was his gripping of the ball. That remained his weak point till the end."

Bhattacharya, the first Indian goalkeeper to be part of the Asian all-star XI and one of the best ever to stand between the sticks for the India national team, believes that Gurpreet can reach the heights that Subrata Paul touched a few years back.

"Subrata has a better reflex but Gurpreet's strength is his ability to stay calm in all situations. Even when he had done bad, he didn't show any sign of pressure before or after the match. I will say that is a great attribute even though that has not always helped East Bengal's cause," he says with a smile.

Gurpreet made his move to Norwegian top division side Stabaek in August 2014, but has played only one competitive game for the first team till now. While he has played several competitive matches for the reserve side, there has not been any litmus test as such for the Indian keeper. Having seen only glimpses of his outings for Stabaek, it's inappropriate to make any instant inference but his limited playing minutes for the first team casts further doubt on whether he has been able to get the better of a familiar demon.

As India takes the field on Tuesday, the Indian football fraternity will be hoping to see a new Gurpreet, who has left behind his biggest negative trait and is now a full proof professional when he has his gloves on.