For Karanjeet Singh, a 13-year-old student in a South Delhi school, football began as a casual kick-about with his friends. Nothing serious, nothing worth giving up his life for. That was four years ago. Today, things have changed, as he returns from a gruelling practice session at a football academy in New Delhi. “Today was about tactics, closing down tight spaces,” he explains during his warm down session, dressed in a Liverpool replica shirt.
Singh’s interest in football piqued not because of homegrown heroes, but the changing nature of media consumption: the internet. “When I was growing up, everyone around me was just into cricket.