[3] Salim was best known for his role in the fabled 1930s Mohammedan SC team which claimed five successive Calcutta Football League titles.

Mohun Bagan's IFA Shield triumph in 1911 also contributed to drawing the young Salim to football.

They played in bare feet and managed to defeat British teams wearing boots which was seen as evidence that Indians were in no way inferior.

Managed by a group of educated Bengali middle-class patrons, they instilled in Salim the fervent desire to beat the European in his game.

Exceptionally talented, Salim was winning thousands of hearts with his ball control, dribbling, correct passes and lobs.

He celebrated his fifth straight league win by shedding a couple of teardrops and by thanking God for having helped him achieve what he wanted.

[15]After the title win of 1936, Salim was invited to play in two exhibition matches against the Chinese Olympic side.

[16][17] After the first game, Salim was praised by the Chinese official Dr Chi Chao Yung: Allow me to congratulate most heartily the members of the India side for their wonderful display of good footwork.

The police were solicited to search for him and advertisements were inserted in newspapers requesting that he join the Civil and Military XI immediately.

"[12] The idea of a bare-footed amateur from India competing against Scottish professionals was difficult for Maley to believe but he agreed to give him a trial.

[20] Salim made his debut in a 5–1 victory against Hamilton Accies, where "he took a penalty and scored with a great shot.

The Scottish Daily Express carried the headline "Indian Juggler – New Style" along with a magical description of Salim: Ten twinkling toes of Salim, Celtic FC's player from India hypnotised the crowd at Parkhead last night in an Alliance game with Galston.

In his bare feet, he was a conspicuous figure but this was further emphasised by his dark skin against the white and green of the Celtic strip.

I wouldn't like to have calculated the score had McGrory been playing ..... [Danny] Dawson missed a penalty kick which Salim, despite the invitation of Alex Millar, refused to take.

[24] Celtic pleaded with him to remain in Scotland for a season, even offering to organise a charity match on his behalf and promising him five percent of the total gate proceeds.

[19] In the end, he travelled back to India to rejoin Mohammedan Sporting Club in time for the beginning of the 1937 Calcutta Football League.

[27]Following Salim's death in 1980, an obituary message in the Amrita Bazar Patrika announced: Mohammed Salim (Sr) a member of the legendary Mohammedan Sporting Club side that claimed five successive Calcutta senior football league titles in the thirties died in Calcutta on Wednesday morning.

A right winger in his playing days, he was intimately connected with many sports clubs and took active interest in training youngsters.

In a nation plagued by religious violence, and political and economic uncertainties he helped reassure Indians that the might of the colonial state could be successfully subverted on the sporting field.