He’s not a household name yet, but
Dinesh Kumar is the Tom Brady of India.
Well, sort of. Kumar, 20, a Chennai native
who stands 5’10” and weighs just 185 lbs,
led the Pune Marathas to the inaugural
Elite Football League of India championship
and was named Most Outstanding
Quarterback, as well as Offensive Player
of the Year. However, most viewers of the
EFLI in India may not know this, as the
first season is still being televised in India,
though it was completed in July and August
in Sri Lanka.
Games in the eight-team league,
which includes teams
from India, Pakistan,
and Sri Lanka, are being
shown to Indian viewers
like an NFL highlight
package, with hardly
any breaks in action.
Whether this brand of
American football can
be successful in India
remains to be seen. We’ll know for sure in
a few years, especially if Kumar, like Brady,
is driving an Audi R8, with a supermodel
sitting next to him.