The skies have let up, and the whole city is flooded. And jammed. The Chennaiyin Football Club has been travelling all morning — one hour to get to the practice ground, another two hours to get back. It’s been a tiring day for the home team, but they are all professional players, and they’ve braved much more than a rain spell to be where they are today.
The home team comprising 16 Indian players and 12 international players are finally in Chennai to play their second match in the league. “The home crowd is always important for players. We need their support, we get more enthusiasm out of it,” says Abhishek Das, the defender from Kolkata. After their first victory, where they beat Goa 2-1, the boys are keen to keep up the performance. For their upcoming match, they say they are looking forward to a packed stadium, with Chennai cheering for the home team.
None of the players on the team are from the city though, and owing to the rains, haven’t even had the opportunity to see much of it. They plan to spend their evening lounging indoors and as they joke, poke fun at each other and laugh together, it’s obvious that these players have formed a bond despite having played on opposing teams previously. “Outside, we are friends. But when we are on the field, sometimes he plays striker and I’m a defender. So…,” says Abhishek trailing off mid sentence. “So, I always kill him on the field,” finishes Jeje Lalpekhlua, grinning smugly. For these boys, once the whistle blows, nothing matters but the game.
The players representing Chennai come from all over the country and some of them have played bigger matches and to a larger audience. The Indian Super League (ISL), however, has brought them into the limelight. The players are confident that it isn’t just going to stop here; this is just the beginning that will take Indian football to the international arena. They currently play alongside some big names from the international scene, and they say they have a lot to learn from them about playing professional football. N.P. Pradeep, the defender from Kerala explains that when the IPL started, the standards of the players were not as high as they were after two seasons. With time, they got better, as will the players from the ISL, he says with certainty.
“I think what’s missing in Indian football is the marketing,” complains Harmanjot Khabra, the mid-fielder from Punjab. Despite playing a sport that has a lot of publicity in the international arena, the Indian players enjoy a fairly low profile outside their home ground. Things are changing though and the boys report that they’ve been receiving a lot of media attention and winning fans along the way as they travel around the country for the league matches. “This is a big thing and it motivates us after all the hard work we’ve put in,” says Harmanjot.
“A big plus for the league is that cricket players and Bollywood actors endorse the movement,” says Mikaël Silvestre, the famous French defender, who is one of the international players playing for Chennaiyin FC. “It’s making a big noise already. Everybody is aware of it because of the international players coming in and the media coverage. It’s a big plus for the ISL to be seen everywhere around the world,” he says, adding that his family in the U.S. streams the matches online.
Thirty-seven years old and towards the end of his football career, Silvestre says his responsibility is to be a mentor to the Indian players. For him, the multiculturalism of the team is no different from growing up in France where there were different ethnicities from French colonies around the world. “These players have their own quality and background. You have to embrace Indian culture,” he says. And he’s embracing it alright, asking for recommendations for a good South Indian restaurant to dine in and saying he’s already tried chicken tandoori since he got here. “I’ve tried Indian food before because I lived in Manchester for so long. I like the spice, but here it is really spicy,” he says, laughing.
However, he’s staying away from the spice at the moment because it’s against the diet the athletes follow. And he’s not the only one. For the footballers who play for Chennaiyin FC, it’s all about preparing for the upcoming match — strict diet, gym sessions and practice matches in turbulent weather conditions. Because, rain or storm, these boys are determined to give it their all!
