Pansanttom Venkatesh

Pansanttom Venkatesh (1926 – 1 June 1977) was an Indian footballer. Venkatesh played for East Bengal and the India national football team during his professional career.

Club career Venkatesh spent most of his club career in East Bengal, and captained the team in 1952–53. He was part of the team that played against German side Kickers Offenbach and FC Torpedo Moscow in 1953. He also scored two goals against Torpedo in their 3–3 draw at the Central Dynamo Stadium. With East Bengal from 1948 to 1953, he scored overall 81 goals, and emerged as top scorer in 1953.

In the same year, he represented the club at the World Youth Festival in Romania. He scored a goal against Lebanon XI in their 6–1 win.

International career Venkatesh was part of the prominent national team during the "golden era" of Indian football, managed by Syed Abdul Rahim, became one of the best teams in Asia. He represented India and won gold-medal at the 1951 Asian Games, held in New Delhi. He also went on the play at the 1952 Summer Olympics with India.

He was also a part of Balaidas Chatterjee managed Indian team that participated in 1953 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament in Rangoon, and won the title. He also won the 1954 edition. Venkatesh also appeared with the Indian team in an exhibition match in December 1954 in an 1–0 defeat to Allsvenskan club AIK at CC&FC Ground in Kolkata.

Honours East Bengal IFA Shield: 1949, 1950, 1951 Bengal Santosh Trophy: 1950-51

India Asian Games Gold medal: 1951 Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament: 1952, 1953, 1954