A different ball game

In an unwitting comment on the state of Indian football, few actual Indian footballers could be found to attend a release of FIFA postage stamps by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his Race Course Road residence ahead of the World Cup. This was mainly because the event was kept under wraps till the last moment. In the event, only Chuni Goswami, who captained the Indian team to an Asian Games gold medal in 1962, was able to attend on Thursday night. Other sportspersons who were pressed into service to provide a decent quorum were weightlifter Karnam Malleswari and shooter and politician Rajyavardhan Rathore. The Prime Minister's Office put up a YouTube video of Modi's speech at the event on the PM's official site only much later.