India's prolific film industry churns out scores of movies with plotlines bordering on the absurd every year but even Bollywood might have dismissed as too preposterous the story of the rise of soccer club Aizawl FC. While Leicester City's Premier League triumph stands as the modern benchmark for footballing fairytales, Aizawl winning the Indian title last month in only their second season in the top flight is perhaps even more far-fetched. "The manner in which the club with a shoe-string budget managed to overpower the bigwigs will be spoken about in Indian football history for ever," said All India Football Federation (AIFF) general secretary Kushal Das. "Our inexperience showed in our first season in the top division," Royte told Reuters. "We take a lot of pride in it, it's a ritual in Mizoram football," Royte said.

Source: India Today May 16, 2017 12:00 UTC