NEW DELHI (India): Former India stars Shanmugham Venkatesh and Mahesh Gawli have stepped into their new roles as Indian Arrows coaches and are keen on producing next generation players.
For the duo who have both enjoyed decorated playing careers and celebrated a multitude of trophies and triumphs together, Arrows victory against Churchill Brothers last week was special — it was their first win since taking charge of the developmental side.
“Mahesh and I have been together from our India U-19 days,” Arrows coach Venkatesh told the-aiff.com. “We played age-group level together, at club level as well and then for the India senior team for almost a decade.”
Venkatesh was named the head coach of Arrows before the start of the season and is also the assistant coach of Indian senior team.
He shared his relationship with Gawli, hailing him as one of India’s “finest-ever” defenders.
“He was among the finest defenders during his time. He has played at the top level for so many years and his knowledge of football is brilliant. He is supremely disciplined and a great role model for aspiring pros. We were very good friends when we were players,” said Venkatesh.
Reunion of former India stars at Arrows
Gawli spoke highly of Venkatesh, who have had assisted Stephen Constantine as a part of national team coaching staff.
“Venkatesh was a highly creative midfielder and a very good dribbler. He was cool and composed, and also very sharp. His work rate was brilliant,” he said.
According to Gawli, his best memories with Venkatesh are from the time they played together at Mahindra United, when they won the National Football League, IFA Shield, Federation Cup and Mumbai Football League in 2005-06 season.
“Mahindra is one of the best teams in Indian football. That year was an enjoyable one as we won all the trophies. We were a great bunch. We had some top Indian players who were in the national team too,” added Venkatesh.
Both Venkatesh and Gawli were top India stars and won 2005 SAFF title in Pakistan.
“The atmosphere in the senior team in our team was really good and all of us were hard workers. We were dedicated and determined to do something great for the country,” said the former centre-back.
Both the former India internationals keen to pass on their knowledge and experience to the next generation.
“Being a player and coach is quite different. As a coach, it is more important to have management and leadership skills. One has to understand the individual attributes and characters of each player,” he added.
