Kapil Dev's 1983 World Cup triumph against all odds opened the doors for cricket to become a phenomenon in India. Jay Gupta now hopes India's unprecedented footballing rendezvous with five-time world champions Brazil can spark a similar revolution for the sport. The Khalid Jamil-coached side will take on Brazil and Uruguay in back-to-back friendlies at Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium on October 3 and 6 respectively, marking an unprecedented high for Indian football. "Just like, for example, before Mr. Kapil Dev brought the World Cup home and he started the revolution, we are looking to show our calibre and basically start one of our own here and build from that," Gupta told reporters on the sidelines of India's training session here.
"I've been working hard. I was really happy to get the call-back from coach Khalid (Jamil) and really happy to get all the trust from him.
"At this moment, I feel really lucky to be able to be part of this squad because we are knocking at the door of five-time World Cup champions, trying to show that we also have the calibre to be able to push for those accolades that they are holding, being five-time World Cup champions."
For East Bengal defender Gupta, the occasion is more than just another international fixture.
It is a chance to test himself against some of the world's best and, perhaps, help Indian football take a step towards a new beginning.
"Everyone in the team knows that it's an opportunity of a lifetime. Everybody is very excited to meet the players that they've always grown up watching and to be able to see where they stand competing with these players."
Gupta returns to the national setup with confidence after India held Panama to a 1-1 draw in Bengaluru.
Ryan Williams put India ahead in the 41st minute before Omar Valencia equalised for Panama in the 68th, but the result gave the Blue Tigers plenty of belief ahead of their biggest test yet.
"We're all very excited after the game we had against Panama. A lot of confidence in the group and we want to take it forward into this next one."
India's confidence has also been strengthened by a longer camp under Jamil, something Gupta believes has helped the group grow closer and absorb the coach's ideas.
"From the Panama match, I think it gave us a lot of confidence. We were able to successfully execute the coach's plans and gave us a lot of confidence even in training sessions.
"We had a longer camp this time so the group felt more closer together, and we just want to build on that because it's all about an upward trajectory and that's what we're looking forward to right now."
Brazil arrive in Kolkata on the back of a 4-2 win over Australia in Brisbane, with Vanderson, Raphinha, Bruno Guimaraes and Vinicius Junior finding the net.
With Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti relying on several of his established stars, Gupta knows India will have little margin for error.
"Our analyst team is always working towards getting us all the footage and keeping us updated with what's been happening recently," said Gupta.
"And obviously to be able to play them right after they're playing Australia, we need their recent analysis and they get it to us. We can watch it and analyse how we want to prepare."
For Gupta, there is no need for any additional motivation. The challenge itself is enough.
"I don't think any player on the team needs any extra motivation to prepare. We just want to start our training sessions here and get doing to what the coach wants us to do every training session and reach there and then it's going to be just playing for our dream."
Against Brazil, concentration will be as important as ambition.
"I think playing against Brazil, you need to be concentrated 1000 per cent on the pitch. So as long as each and every player shows that same level of concentration, we'll be learning a lot of things.
"The main concentration is being able to learn as much as we can and knowing how far we are to be able to compete against the world champions."
Gupta could find himself directly confronting two of Brazil's most dangerous attacking weapons in Vinicius and Raphinha, and he sees the game as an opportunity to measure his own development against elite opposition.
"As a defender, I've always been dreaming about trying to see how I would be able to compete against some of the best attacking players in the world."
"This opportunity is very good for a defender like me to be able to understand how I approach my 1v1s, how I'm able to understand how these kind of players take on the 1v1s and eventually try to beat the players."
"For me, it'll be one of the best learning curves and that's what I'm really looking forward to in this game, to be able to understand how to approach these situations and at the end of the day, improve and do it in my own life."
Gupta is also hoping India can give the home crowd something to celebrate, even if the first priority will be to execute Jamil's plans.
"We definitely would love to be able to score against Brazil, obviously. I think it's more about taking it minute by minute, to be able to understand the game in the first 15 and more importantly, to be able to execute what the coach wants, exactly how we tried to do in the last game.
"If we can get on the score sheet first, then that would be the best thing."
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