Dharmaraj Ravanan and his team Churchill Brothers SC are at the verge of winning the I-League 2012/13 title.

The Churchill captain spoke to his club’s media team ahead of the match on Tuesday.

INTERVIEW

Despite being only 25, you already have plenty of experience in Indian football because of your spells at Mohun Bagan and Mahindra United, has this been your best season?
I started my professional career at Dempo SC. Their coach Armando Colaco saw me in Bangalore when I was playing for Chennai’s Indian Bank and he gave me an opportunity and at 19 I joined them where I learned alot from my teammates. The following year I moved to Mohun Bagan, but there it was a different experience and thereafter I joined Mahindra United. At Mahindra United I learned alot from my coaches Derrick Pereira and David Booth.
Then I joined Churchill Brothers and this is my third year with the club and I’m still learning. This year we are doing well under Subhas Bhowmick and Mariano Dias, and this season is the best season for me.

You first formed a great partnership with Lebanese Bilal Sheikh El Najjarin and now with Lamine Tamba from Senegal. Has adjustment been a problem for you with these two defenders?
Bilal is one of the best player’s I have ever played with! He is very cool and confident. We had very good understanding while playing, but we all were worried when he left the club in the middle of the season. When I came to know the management signed Lamine Tamba as his replacement, I was really pleased since Tamba and me played together at Mahindra United so it was easy for us to play together again.

How much have you relished the opportunity of leading Churchill Brothers as captain in big I-League and AFC Cup games?
It has been an incredible journey this season so far, it has been an absolute pleasure leading a team that is more like an extended family to me.

What do you think is the best quality of this Churchill Brothers squad?
This year we have very good squad, this team is mixture of experience senior players and talented youngsters. Subhas Bhowmick and Mariano Dias know how to get the best out of the players. This year we have played some brilliant football and everyone has started to appreciate our style of play.

If you had to pick one or two important results from this season’s I-League that gave Churchill an advantage in the title race, which ones would it be?
I would choose the matches against Pune FC, which gave us a huge advantage. In the away leg in Pune we scored in the 89th minute and won 1-0, while at home we beat them 2-1.
But don’t forget we still haven’t won the title, we will give our best vs Mohun Bagan and hopefully get all three points at home.

(Churchill Brothers SC Press Release)