Anil Jadhav has been restless of late. Most of his energies have been divided between his job of driving an auto-rickshaw in Kolhapur and getting his family to pack their belongings in time for their train that will take a day and a half to take them from Kolhapur to New Delhi. In time for Jadhav to watch his son Aniket put on the India jersey and make history in the host nation's FIFA U-17 World Cup opener on October 6.
The buzz has grown as the game against USA has drawn nearer. Aniket's cutouts and posters featured prominently during the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in August. "Kolhapur mein poster lagaya hai, chowk mein board bhi hai (They have put up posters of him all over Kolhapur, and even a board with his name near the city centre)," says Jadhav.
Aniket's biggest contribution thus far has been in getting people in Kolhapur excited about the U-17 World Cup with his exploits. Former India international and Western India Football Association (WIFA) CEO Henry Menezes says, "People have started associating themselves with this icon. They have made a selfie point with him in Kolhapur. He has become a household name there, from not many knowing his name just a couple of years ago."
There's something about Kolhapur
"Kolhapur is a sports-mad city," says Menezes, who has known Aniket from a young age. "It has normally produced wrestlers and today we have a World Cupper from there. This is what a sports city does -- if you drive through Kolhapur, you'll come across a gym every 20 minutes or so."
Kolhapur's association with football has been a revelation in recent years -- it has served as a venue for the I-League as well as two international friendlies between the women's teams of India and the Netherlands, which Menezes says drew average crowds of 25,000. The closest they have got to the big stage is former India women's international Anju Turambekar, now an All India Football Federation (AIFF) grassroots instructor and manager, whose place of origin, Gadhinglaj, is right next to Kolhapur.
Young Aniket's stomping ground
One of the big sporting arenas in the city is the Rajarshi Shahu stadium, which has been hosting football matches for a long time. It was here that Jadhav, who worked with a textile mill until its closure in 2003, once took his young son with him to watch football.
"Uske mama ne phir bola ki use Balewadi bhej do (His uncle then asked us to send him to Balewadi)," says Jadhav, of sending a nine-year-old Aniket to the Pune-based Krira Prabhodini school, a state government-sponsored project which literally means 'awakener of sport' and scouts talented young sportspersons across Maharashtra and takes care of their education alongside sport. "I was reluctant to let him go, because I wasn't sure if he would be able to cope by himself. But then his mother said to me that if he wants to go, we shouldn't stop him."
Menezes says Krira Prabhodini kids are known for their prowess in athletics, and ascribes Aniket's ability to explode into bursts of speed to it. It was this quality that caught the eye of the Pune FC academy, also located in Balewadi, and Aniket was drafted into their U-15 side to begin with.
Mixing it with the big boys
Former India international Naushad Moosa, now the head coach of Bengaluru FC's reserve team, was then with the Pune U-19 team. "Besides being very fast, he is a fighter, and his attitude of never giving up and his aggression are what stand out on the field," says Moosa, whose U-19 team were runners-up behind AIFF's Elite Academy in the 2014-15 U-19 I-League. "Because of his explosive pace, I drafted him into the U-19 team as well, but that was when he got scouted by the national team. I didn't get a lot of matches with him, but I tried him on the wings and also as a striker. He enjoys himself most playing as a No. 9." Aniket was playing alongside older teammates like striker Farukh Choudhary, attacking midfielder Chesterpaul Lyngdoh and goalkeeper Sukhadev Patil, all of whom have already had an experience of the highest grade of Indian domestic football.
The scouting Moosa speaks of almost never came to pass. WIFA scouts had already been to Kolhapur and Pune, and for some reason Aniket didn't catch their eye at that point of time. The German-born coach of the Indian U-17 team, Nicolai Adam, was only scheduled to be at Mumbai's Cooperage ground for another April morning of 2015, and that's when Menezes got a call from Malojiraje Bhonsle, heir of the former royal family of Kolhapur.
"He said we must have a look at this boy," says Menezes. "So we asked Nicolai and Nicolai agreed, and then Aniket made an overnight journey of seven hours. He came into the ground at 7:15 in the morning, changed and started practice, and in 15 minutes the coach said he will be in his first XI."
Like a fish to water
Adam would eventually make way for Portuguese Luis Norton de Matos, but both coaches have stuck with Aniket, probably also because of his ability to play across positions in the attacking third. He showed his football intelligence during India's three matches at the AFC U-16 Championships in Goa in September 2016, starting out as a traditional centre forward, but dropping wide to create space for the likes of Komal Thatal, Aman Chetri and the two full-backs Boris Singh and Sanjeev Stalin.
It was during this tournament that Aniket's family saw him in action for the first time. "We went to see his matches in Goa last year, and in the first match we watched, he scored inside the first 10 minutes [a sixth-minute goal in the 3-3 draw against former U-17 world champions Saudi Arabia]," says Jadhav. "Ab dekho kitne saare desh ghoom aaya, aur badi acchi English bhi bol raha hai (Look at him now -- he's been to so many countries, and even speaks fluent English)."
"As a player, he has grown, and he's enjoyed the full confidence of both coaches -- Adam and Matos," says Moosa, who came up against his former player when the India U-17 team played Bengaluru's reserves in a friendly during their camp in the city recently. "We pressed them hard, and he lost possession a few times softly, but that could also be because he was nervous playing in front of his coach. He was substituted after the first half, but then the coach wanted to take a look at more and more players within the squad, I guess."
Both Menezes and Moosa talk of the need for Aniket to stay grounded once the World Cup is over. "He must retain focus and take his game to another level. When I met him during the India friendly, that's exactly what I told him -- stay focused and keep working hard," says Moosa. Menezes, who is also deputy chairman of the AIFF's technical committee, envisages a bigger role for Aniket and his history-making teammates.
The correct perspective comes from the father. "He has been busy with the Indian team for the last two years. That's why he still has some of his exams pending. He will finish the World Cup and then have to appear for his school exams, and he is just about okay as a student," laughs Jadhav.
One line that Jadhav first uses when asked about how excited he is to see his son turn out for India at a World Cup sticks with you long after the conversation is over. He punctuates almost every answer after that with this line, and laughs fitfully while doing so.
"Humaare ladke ne bahut badhiya kaam kar diya hai (Our son has done something wonderful)!"
And who could possibly deny that?