india world cup: This is how India can play in the World Cup

On Tuesday, Parliament woke up to the World Cup question: why a superhumongous global power like India isn’t sare jahan se achha in the Beautiful Game – or even achha enough to make it to the World Cup? Could it be Nehru’s fault? Could it be part of a conspiracy by some spoilsport nations to keep India out of play? Or is it because cricket hai toh mumkin hai and that’s all India needs? To be fair, none of these questions was asked. Instead, Kerala Congress MP V K Sreekandan forewent Google Search and asked GoI whether India really never qualified for the final stage of the football World Cup except by default in 1950 (when the Philippines, Indonesia and Burma withdrew, and India still didn’t go to Brazil because of ‘disagreements over team selection, and insufficient practice time’). Sreekandan’s colleague Anto Anthony asked – again, foregoing Google – what India’s rank was (106th among 211 Fifa member countries) and about the kind of financial assistance being provided to football in the country.

Sports minister Anurag Thakur midfielded all questions with patience and grace. But to answer the unanswered question that was unasked: India can become a World Cup contender the moment enough Indians simply wish for it. For, can you deny that anything that India wants badly enough, it just wills it and gets it, without even trying?