Asian tournament

Shahaji Raje Bhosale Sports Complex: For years, Mohit Khatri has been disturbed by the fact that despite representing the country for years and leading it at the Asian Rugby Championships, he was not recognised by fans and media, whereas cricketers, footballers, shuttlers and those from other sports were mobbed.

He knew the answer was somewhere in the fact that he represented India in rugby, which was a little-known sport and rarely made it to the television screens or back pages of the newspapers. But such was his passion that Khatri has pursued rugby since the age of 13 and is now the biggest star of Indian rugby.

"When we used to go to play tournaments, we also used to feel that 'yes, we are players of the Indian team'. But when we used to compare it with cricket or any other sport, we felt how far we were. There were no fans, not much support from the media," Khatri told IANS in an exclusive interview.