Bidyashagar dedicates hat-tricks to ex-national star Prameshwori

Kolkata, March 11 : After becoming the first Indian footballer to score back-to-back hat-tricks, TRAU FC’s Bidyashagar Singh dedicated his feat to former Indian women’s team star Prameshwori Devi.
Bidyashagar, 22, came up with hat-tricks in consecutive matches of the I-League — first against Mohammedan Sporting and then against Real Kashmir FC, both hat-tricks coming in five days.
“I would like to dedicate this record to my family, and to Prameshwori Devi, who was my first coach back in my childhood days. She herself was playing for the Indian women’s team back in those days, and she is an absolute inspiration for me,” Bidyashagar told i-league.org Bidyashagar has been in red hot form of late, and seems to have sprung into form since the start of Phase 2 of the I-League 2020-21 season.
Not only has Bidyashagar climbed up to the top of the scorers’ charts with 11 goals in the I-League, by virtue of these hat-tricks, but he has also managed to get his name into a few more record books. Apart from being the first Indian to score consecutive hat-tricks, he also became the second Indian to score two hat-tricks in a season — the only other Indian to manage this feat in the I-League was Jeje Lalpekhlua for the Pailan Arrows, back in the 2010-11 season.
“I had absolutely no idea that I had made any kind of record. To be honest, these kinds of things are never on your mind when you go out to play a match. But it was a very pleasant surprise for me, when I got to know that I am the only Indian to score two hat-tricks in two matches in the I-League. It is an absolute honour for me, and I feel blessed to be playing for this team,” he said.