India's rugby sevens venture tries to convert Olympic dreams to reality
India launches a rugby sevens league this weekend in a bold bid to win fans and bolster dreams of the Olympics in a country where cricket is king.
The 34-match Rugby Premier League (RPL) will be staged for two weeks from Sunday in Mumbai and has attracted greats of the game such as the United States' try-scoring machine Perry Baker.
"Is there space for a sport outside of cricket in India? 100 percent," Rugby India president Rahul Bose told AFP as he hopes to convert sports fans into following the fast-paced, short-form version of rugby union.
The RPL is run by GMR Sports, which owns a team in the cricket T20 behemoth that is the Indian Premier League (IPL).
It combines Indian rugby players in six franchise teams alongside 30 globally experienced teammates, including current World Rugby Sevens Series stars such as Australia's Maurice Longbottom and Fiji's Filipe Sauturaga.
Coaches include former USA mentor Mike Friday, New Zealand legends Tomasi Cama and DJ Forbes, and England great Ben Gollings.
Bose, a former India rugby international and successful Bollywood actor, has big dreams.
"An Indian (rugby) team getting into the Olympics, whether it's men or women, is inevitable," Bose said.
Bose believes it could happen within a decade.
And that could mean an India team taking part in a home 2036 Olympics, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared he wants to host.
"There's a lot of money," Bose said, adding that the budget of the Mumbai-based national rugby federation had grown more than 30-fold. "There's a lot of opportunity."
He is coy on precise funding, saying only that overseas stars in the RPL were being paid an "equitable" fee to what they receive in tournaments worldwide.
- 'Dream come true' -
India's overall record at the Olympics is poor, winning only 10 gold medals in its history.
Cricket offers an obvious chance to increase that tally when it returns at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but India is keen to be competitive in other sports.
Fiji scrum-half Terio Tamani, who will play for Hyderabad Heroes, believes rugby could offer an opportunity.
"They have facilities, they have money for them to develop," said Tamani, whose country won Olympic men's rugby gold in 2016, Fiji's first Olympic medal of any colour.
India captain Prince Khatri, also of Hyderabad, said training and playing with marquee stars he had previously seen only on television was "a dream come true".
"I'm learning a lot," he said. "This is just the beginning."
RPL says it has talent scouts going countrywide to draw youngsters into six regional training centres.
"That's the real gold dust," said ex-USA coach Friday, now training Kalinga Black Tigers.
"Because ultimately the league will happen for 14 days but it's about what happens after in the other 11 months."
Baker, a two-time World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year, said the league will help fast-track local players.
"Having these top-calibre players around will help elevate them," the American said.
- Long history, niche sport -
Kiran Kumar Grandhi, chairman of GMR Sports, said having "world class" rugby in India will foster grassroots development.
GMR has the experience.
Part of a New Delhi-based conglomerate spanning airports and highways, GMR owns the IPL's Delhi Capitals and franchises in India's popular Pro Kabaddi League and Ultimate Kho Kho League.
India is pushing for both of those tag-type sports to be included in the Olympics.
Rugby has a long history in India, dating back to 1871 during British rule.
That was when the glittering silver Calcutta Cup was created and it remains the oldest trophy contested between international rugby union teams, in this case England and Scotland.
But rugby has remained a niche sport.
The RPL's home at the 7,000-capacity Mumbai Football Arena is not even a dedicated rugby pitch.
But RPL organisers believe that, just as the IPL saw ratings surge with the T20 transformation of cricket, it can woo fans and sponsors with a version of rugby where matches are over in a fast-and-furious 22 minutes.
"The sport is just built for spectators and television," Bose said, adding he ambitiously hopes for 10 to 15 million people to tune in via broadcast giants Star Sports and JioStar.
India's Arpan Chhetri, who will play for Bengaluru Bravehearts, said players are focused on one ambition.
"Our target is to get into the Olympics," he said.
"We will keep going until we succeed."
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