Mumbai: He was born in Shivaji Park, the nursery of Indian cricket. Before moving to New Jersey along with his parents at the age of six, he would accompany his mother, who along with her siblings was a competitive tennis player, to the Shivaji Park Gymkhana tennis courts for a hit or two. But had he not moved to the land of the free, Namit Deshpande would perhaps not have been a part of India’s squad for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, which kicks off on Friday.
Namit, 17, is one of the two footballers who were selected in India’s squad through the overseas scouting programme (OSP) conducted jointly by the All India Football Federation and the Sports Authority of India. The central defender is a certainty in India’s starting line-up for what could be the only Indian team participating in a global football tournament.
As strange as it is to see an Indian youngster in the U.S. hooked to football — or soccer, in the American parlance — so is his journey to Delhi from New Jersey.
His parents, Sandeep and Radhika Deshpande, architects who migrated to the U.S. in 2006, were surprised when they received a call from the OSP representatives in May 2016. Neither Sandeep nor Radhika were aware that Namit, on the insistence of his friends, had emailed his videos to the scouting programme representatives.
Sceptical at first
No wonder then that their initial reaction, and even Namit’s, was negative, considering the importance of the educational year. “He was in Grade 11 and had to select a college and specialisation thereafter. So all of us were sceptical about the opportunity that came calling our way,” Sandeep told The Hindu from New Delhi.
But so impressed were Abhishek Yadav, the former India striker at the helm of the project, and project coordinator Vikram Nanivadekarm, they continued to clear all the doubts the Deshpandes had. “Establishing the authenticity of the project, the federation, and the event took a lot of time. But once he came to Brazil for the trials last year, Nicolai Adam (then head coach of U-17) was impressed and we shortlisted him immediately,” says Yadav.
With a change in coaching staff forcing another short trial in Goa earlier this year, Namit formally joined India’s squad during its exposure trip to Europe.
“Since he is so passionate about football and has impressed everyone who is involved in Indian football, we eventually decided to back him in his pursuit for excellence,” said Sandeep.
Early days
But isn’t it strange for a Shivaji Park boy to take up football seriously in the U.S.? That too, when his mother, the erstwhile Radhika Mahabaleshwarkar, was a noted tennis player, and one of his maternal uncles had excelled both in tennis and cricket? Sandeep admits football didn't happen to Namit as a serious sporting activity.
“It was more of a socialising option. When we moved to New Jersey, his aunt’s children, who lived nearby, used to play football. He just happened to join them, and ended up liking the game so much that he started playing regularly,” he said.
Thanks to Namit’s selection in the squad, Sandeep has come back home after eight years. But he stresses that the parents want the focus to be on Namit’s achievements, rather than their homecoming.
He even politely requested not to publish family photographs, since he and Radhika would “prefer to be in the background” as their son takes the centre stage come Friday.
Sandeep has just one wish: that India accept Namit as her own son, rather than constantly tagging him as an NRI. “He has lived in Dadar, he went to Bombay Scottish school for a couple of years, and has childhood friends here in Dadar who he keeps in touch with,” he said.
A better script couldn’t have been written for Namit since India face the U.S.A. in their campaign-opener in the national capital on Friday. If the burly teenager doesn’t let the U.S. attackers — many of whom he has played with and against in the U.S. — breach India’s defence, it would be the icing on the cake for the Deshpande family.
