Pratap Shankar Hazra

Pratap Shankar Hazra (; born 3 April 1943) is a former Bangladeshi national football and hockey player and coach. He is a former national coach of Bangladesh.

Early life Pratap was born on 3 April 1943 in Sreenagar Upazila of Munshiganj District in Bengal, British India, the son of Priyo Shankar and Annapurna Hazra. He spent most of his childhood living in Armanitola, Dacca. He passed matriculation from Armanitola High School in 1960 and gained admission to Jagannath College. Pratap passed his higher secondary in 1964 and was admitted to Dacca University, where he majored in Bachelor of Arts.

Club career Football Pratap began playing inter-college football in 1961, representing Jagannath College, and eventually joined Victoria SC in the Dhaka First Division League in the same year. In his second year at the club, he won the league title along with the Aga Khan Gold Cup, and Independence Day Football Tournament. Nonetheless, he rarely entered the pitch in a Victoria team dominated by Makrani players from the Pakistan national team.

In the National Football Championship, Pratap became a champion with Dhaka Division in 1962. He represented the Dacca Division junior team in the National Youth Football Championship in 1963, and the following year, he played for Dacca District in the inter-district football championship. Pratap also won the inter-university football championship with Dacca University in both 1966 and 1968. Additionally, he represented Dacca Division in the 1968 National Championship held in Jessore. In the 1969 edition of the National Championship, he represented East Zone winners, East Pakistan Combined University, in the main tournament held in Lahore. He served both as an organizer and a player at the club, and helped them win the First Division League three times while also clinching a runner-up position in the Atiqullah Cup. He represented the club until the Independence of Bangladesh, after which, he served both Mohammedan and Dhaka Abahani, winning the league title twice at each club. He was also Mohammedan's player-cum-coach during its 1982 league triumph.

International career Football East Pakistan football team In 1963, Pratap represented East Pakistan in an exhibition match against the China national team. His team suffered a 1–11 defeat. In the same year, when Bundesliga club Fortuna Düsseldorf toured Pakistan for exhibition matches, Pratap was included in the East Pakistan Sports Federation XI squad. He remained an unused substitute during their exhibition match in Dacca. The team was led by Pakistan national team captain Qayyum Changezi. On 16 August 1969, he featured in the second exhibition match for East Pakistan XI against Yangzee FC from South Korea held in Dhaka. The game ended in a 2–3 defeat for the home team.

Pakistan football team

In 1964, he made his Pakistan national team debut, featuring in three exhibition games against Neftyanik from Baku, Soviet Union. Other East Pakistani players in the team included Zahirul Haque and Balai Dey. On 28 February 1965, he represented Pakistan against Ceylon in an exhibition match held in Colombo, which ended in a 1–3 defeat. That same year, he was appointed vice-captain of the Pakistan Youth Team during their tour of the Soviet Union. In March 1967, he was part of the national team which played four exhibition games against Saudi Arabia, where he replaced Ayub Dar in the starting eleven. Pratap and Imam traveled to Agartala to gather players for the Shadhin Bangla football team. The team aimed to convince Indian Muslims, who believed the trouble was caused by Hindu infiltrators, to support the liberation of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh football team In 1972, Pratap represented Dhaka XI (the unofficial Bangladesh national football team) at the Bordoloi Trophy in Guwahati, India. His team finished as runners-up, losing 1–5 to East Bengal Club in the final. The following year, coach Sheikh Shaheb Ali included Pratap in the first official Bangladesh national team. Similar to his role in the Shadhin Bangla football team, Pratap was made vice-captain, while Zakaria Pintoo captained the team for the 1973 Merdeka Cup. Pratap made his debut on 27 July 1973, in a 2–2 draw against Thailand. He played 70 minutes in his debut before being substituted for AKM Nowsheruzzaman.

Hockey East Pakistan hockey team Pratap represented the East Pakistan hockey team in the Pakistan National Hockey Championship from 1961 to 1970. He was called up to the Pakistan national field hockey team training camp in both 1965 and 1968. He featured for East Pakistan in numerous exhibition matches against teams like Japan and New Zealand. In a match against Malaysia, he contributed to a 2–1 victory. In 1996, he coached the junior team at the Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup in Singapore, where Bangladesh finished sixth. In the same year, he was named Coach of the year by the Bangladesh Hockey Federation.

Honours Football player Victoria SC Dhaka First Division League: 1962 Aga Khan Gold Cup: 1962 Independence Day Football Tournament: 1962

Mohammedan Dhaka First Division League: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1975, 1976 Aga Khan Gold Cup: 1964*, 1968 Independence Day Football Tournament: 1963, 1966 All-Pakistan Mohammad Ali Bogra Memorial Tournament: 1966

Dhaka Division National Football Championship: 1962

Football coach Mohammedan SC Federation Cup: 1987

Hockey player Dhaka Abahani First Division Hockey League: 1975, 1976

Mohammedan SC First Division Hockey League: 1979, 1980

Hockey coach Mohammedan SC First Division Hockey League: 1982, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997

Individual 2001 − National Sports Award 2018 − Rupchada Prothom Alo Award 2018