FIFA U17 World Cup: Indian captain Astam Oraon's house gets TV, inverter

When Astam Oraon leads India out for their debut in the U17 Women's World Cup on Tuesday against the mighty USA, her parents will be able to watch her on TV for the first time.

Astam's father Heeralal Oraon and mother Tara Devi are daily labourers. Ironically, they have both been engaged by the administration to construct the road being made to their house in Banari village in Jharkhand's Gumla district, around 130 km from Ranchi. Both get Rs 250 as daily wage. A TV, therefore, was always out of the question.

"We never had the money to buy a TV. All the money was used up in getting food for our children and sending them to school," Astam's mother said.

Prompted by reports of the Indian U17 captain's family not being able to watch the World Cup, the Gumla district administration on Monday gifted a TV and an inverter to the family.

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Astam's mother Tara Devi has never been to Ranchi, even though she has been to Hazaribagh a few times to drop her daughter off.

"If the government can provide a house to us in Ranchi, that would be a great favour. Right now we have put a plastic sheet under our tile roof because it is raining all the time and water leaks into our house. The toilet in our house has no door," she said.

"We never had anything to give our daughter except rice starch, she got all her strength from the air and water of the mountains," she added. The Pacho Pando hills of the Chotanagpur Plateau surround their house on all sides.

Sports an escape from poverty

Astam's father Heeralal was a labourer making roads in Bangalore till this year but he has not been able to return since Holi this year. He is hopeful his daughter's burst into the limelight with India hosting the U17 Women's World Cup can alleviate his family's poverty.

"Despite having nothing for sports in our area, my daughter has become the captain of the Indian women's team today. That makes me proud. I played football in my youth, so I always backed her to play," he said.

The family always seemed to know sports could be their escape from poverty. Astam's elder sister Sumina Oraon is a national-level discus thrower and her youngest sister Alka Oraon plays for the Jharkhand U16 football team.

Fifteen years after Jharkhand gave India a World Cup-winning captain in MS Dhoni, the state has once again given India a captain in a historic World Cup debut.

"I do not even know how to express my happiness into words. I am very excited as well as nervous on the eve of taking on the pitch in the World Cup. It is a big occasion and I will have to give my everything," Astam told AIFF.

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India has been drawn in Group A in the World Cup alongside USA, Morocco and Brazil. They will face USA on October 11, followed by Morocco and Brazil on October 14 and October 17.

(With inputs from Nand Kishore Agarwal)