Click to play videoSrinagar: Jammu and Kashmir is in the grip of football fever these days but it's not because of Euro 2008. It's the 62nd Santosh Trophy; India's premier football tournament that is being played for the first time ever in the state that has the locals excited.
Even though there is a football carnival on Kashmir's grounds, but scenes outside the Bakshi Stadium were far from what greeted players on the field.
Kashmir's defeat at the hands of Punjab didn't quite go down too well with a group of fans. But that only shows that the game has become popular.
"Day by day the interest for the game is growing. New clubs are being registered. There are more tournaments being played including this big one. There will be a big change in coming three years," Juan Marcos, coach, J&K Football Academy, says.
Jammu and Kashmir did well to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time though fans were disappointed that the hosts lost all the three matches in the league. But the tournament has been a great opportunity for players to interact and learn a lot.
"This is for the time that I have come to play here. It is very nice. The arrangements are very nice," Pawan Bhagat, J&K player, says.
And the great interest in the sport has also been because of the many Kashmir players making it to the national team and with a few also representing top clubs like Mohan Bagan, Mohammadan Sporting and Dempo.
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