Indian football: How a picture of Taj Mahal gave India their best left-back — Akash Mishra

Very few spots in the Indian football team have fixed starters. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is the goalkeeper. Sandesh Jhingan is one of the centre-backs. Sunil Chhetri is the striker. And if there’s one more spot — it’s the left-back position that has belonged to Mumbai City FC player Akash Mishra ever since he made his international debut in 2021. Mishra is your modern-day full-back to the core who overlaps and underlaps with wingers and midfielders to provide attacking passes and also tracks back to help the team maintain shape and cut down space. He’s been integral to coach Igor Stimac’s system which has seen the Blue Tigers play a more expansive, attractive and successful brand of football. Akash has had been thriving at the club level also, winning the Indian Super League (ISL) title in 2021-22 with Hyderabad FC. Mishra played every single minute for the club in his debut season in 2020-21 and 2021-22. He was named the Young Player of the Year by the Football Players’ Association of India in 2022 before signing for City Football Group-owned and League Winners Shield holders Mumbai City FC in 2023. Very few, however, are aware of Akash’s background which had no relations with football and how a picture of the Taj Mahal gave India one of its best footballers. Hailing from the sleepy town of Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh, from a family of teachers, sports was a big ’no’ as a career option. Football, in particular, was never the sport that one played, even recreationally. The accidental footballer This is not Manipur, Kerala or West Bengal. The North-East belt of UP is dominated by only one sport — cricket. But it changed for 11-year-old Akash when his friends and acquaintances, who played football, started travelling for competitions. The opportunity to see places outside of Balrampur was Akash’s first motivation to take up the sport. “Like every boy in Uttar Pradesh I started with cricket and then slowly moved to football…I started playing football because I wanted to travel,” Akash told Firstpost. “Balrampur is a small district. From there players and teams used to travel for games. My biggest motivation came when they went to Agra to play district level football and when they came back they showed me a picture they had clicked in front of the Taj Mahal. I was like I also want to join this team because I will also get a chance to travel outside.”

Little did he know that travelling for football would soon become his life’s journey. Despite starting late, Akash turned out to be a natural who picked up the game quickly and at 12 got the big break to join Guru Govind Singh Sports College in Lucknow — a residential sports college which proved to be the “turning point”. “People from Balrampur don’t manage to get out and reach places. My parents had travelled only to Lucknow and came to Mumbai once because of my work. I started playing with the interest of travelling and then when I cleared the trial for Sports College in Lucknow while giving trial for district football, that was my turning point. That is when I started taking football as a career option,” he shared. There was some initial resistance from his family, as a career in a sport, that also football, was alien. But Akash’s hard work and talent shone through all the challenges, whether it was bunking coaching classes to play football and later hiding his shoes at his uncle’s place or earning a six-year training programme in Germany at Bundesliga Club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim as part of the U Dream Football Programme at the age of 14. “Even when I got selected for the sports college It wasn’t easy. My mother was not sure how to send a 12-year-old away from home but the credit goes to my grandfather. He went against my parents and had he not pushed my parent I probably would not have become a footballer but someone trying to get a teacher’s job in a school. “In school, I used to leave coaching classes in the evening and go to play. I used to keep my shoes at my uncle’s place because it would have become a problem if my family had got to know about me playing football. Everyone at my home is from studies background. My grandfather was a school principal, so I don’t come from a sports background and it was difficult. When they got to know there were a few issues but later they started to support me,” Akash recalled.

“I won’t blame them also. We didn’t have a sports background, people didn’t know about the possibilities in football. The game is growing now in India but it hasn’t reached the rural parts in our side. My parents were not aware one can make a career in football. They wanted me to have a safe future because there were many who used to play and left education but didn’t even have jobs. So it’s difficult. My parents wanted a safe future for me, but once I went to Sports College and then Germany they got to know about the options with football and they started supporting and now there’s full support.” Struggle with self-doubt After three years in Germany, Akash returned to India in 2018 and joined Indian Arrows, making his I-League debut in 2018-19. He would then go on to make his India U-18 debut in 2019 before sealing a move to Hyderabad. His consistent performance under Manolo Marquez paved the way for his senior India debut against Oman in a friendly in 2021. Akash’s journey to becoming a footballer has been surreal but it not been without self-doubt. In Germany, there were instances when he felt the late start to the game would go against him. The footballing culture in Germany was also an eye-opener but the trust of his coaches and his determination to succeed kept him motivated. “To be honest, when I went to Germany I myself use to feel that I don’t have the quality to stay in the group but coaches must have seen something in me. At that time my height was good and I was playing as a centre-back but my technical ability was weak. I used to wonder why they had picked me. There were boys from Delhi and Mumbai who had started playing at the age of four and I knew nothing about football at that age. Even in Germany, after our training sessions, small kids, three and four years old, used to do individual training sessions with coaches. That makes me feel that had I started earlier I could have been a better footballer. There are many aspects of the game that I don’t have and I am trying to improve but if you have done that from an early age then it comes quickly. After a certain age, you try but it doesn’t happen,” he explained.

“When I went to the sports college there were a few batchmates who dropped out and couldn’t make it professionally. I had to fight with my parents to play football, so I had this fear of how I would face them if I had to return home. That worked for me as a motivation. That I don’t have to go back home. I have to try to do whatever I can in football. I tried whatever I could and rest it’s the blessing of my parents and God.” Giving back to society Well aware of the lack of a footballing culture and infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh, Mishra has already started the work on giving it back to the community. Only 22, Akash has bought a stake in Techtro Lucknow FC, a professional club based out of UP which also runs academies. “There isn’t a lot of football culture in my hometown. Since I started playing, parents have started allowing their children to play. I wish more and more parents encourage their kids to play. The problem is that when things don’t work out the kids lose motivation. I get messages on WhatsApp and Instagram asking if there are trials somewhere. Now I cannot send everyone to trials. There’s a friend of mine Neeraj (Kholiya) who is the mastermind of this. We always had this plan to set up such an academy or create a structure where players can get good coaching and environment so they can improve and have an idea of how to progress their careers,” he revealed.

“I am not claiming that we are a club and we will do this and that but we are trying to motivate the young footballers and want to show them the pathway. It’s a small initiative that they don’t get demotivated. Inter Kashi has also joined the I-League and they will play in Lucknow and I have heard they may set up an academy. Progress is happening in UP, so it’s just a small contribution to that,” he signed off.