From a Mumbai village to playing football in Russia

Sujal Kahar is all set to represent India at the Football for Friendship tournament in Russia

It is summer holidays at the Educo Saibaba Path Mumbai Public School in Parel but a small whirlwind of dust is forming somewhere in its mostly empty playground. At the centre of it is a boy of 12 who stops, punches and catches a football thrown at him non-stop from varying directions and heights. As he leaps and pivots for 10 full minutes, resembling Spiderman without the web, his green jersey, white shorts and matching shoes, which just a short while ago had been smooth and unspoilt, are rapidly swathed with mud.

Several such practice sessions will follow for Sujal Kahar,