Can ISL show India a new dawn?
Nita Ambani, Chairperson of IMG-Reliance and Co-owner of Mumbai Indians Cricket team, has undertaken a daring step of showing India a new dawn in soccer, the most popular sport in the world. With this view in mind, her brain-child Indian Super League (ISL) Football started on Sunday with the match between Kolkata and Mumbai, the former triumphing 3-0 in front of 77,000 spectators at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Nita Ambani, wife of the Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in India, received tremendous support from the government, the All-India Football Federation, Bolywood icons like Hrittik Roshan, Ranabir Kapoor, Avishek Bachchan and John Abraham, former renowned cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly, and many others who love soccer.
Nita Ambani, Chairperson of IMG-Reliance and founding Chairperson of Football Sports Development, declared the tournament open, and before that she called 120 crore people to make India available for playing in the final round of World Cup Football 2022. We cannot say whether India would be one of the Asian four representatives in the World Cup Football in eight years from now, but we are amazed by the dedication and great efforts of a woman, who is surely a sports icon of India.
Football is a game of goal, footwork, and mental and physical fitness. The Europeans are ahead of the rest of the world in physical fitness but the South Americans are the best in footwork. In such situation, goal decides the ultimate winners.
India won soccer gold medal twice in the Asiad, latest in 1962 beating South Vietnam in the final. Will that glory return to India?
Abdullah Akber
Dhakas
