India is desperate for inspiration, stubborn trailblazer Khalid Jamil can provide it

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Not a single goal scored, eight conceded in three games. Bottom of a group involving North Korea, Philippines, and Tajikistan.

Those were the results of the last Indian to manage the national football team full-time, 13 years ago. The AIFF never returned to domestic expertise after that, and even prior to Savio Medeira's ill-fated spell in 2012, the sight of an Indian manager on the touchline was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it event in the 21st century. Four blips of Indians in charge occurred in the last 25 years, with no real success.

The underlying ethos of the AIFF (always unspoken) was simply that Indian managers weren't good enough - the foreigners knew better.

But Khalid Jamil is good enough. Heck, he may be even better than good enough.

It's somewhat ironic that the AIFF arriving at a good decision was predicated on the less-than-stellar management of funds by the federation. A hefty payout to terminate Igor Stimac, coupled with the uncertainty surrounding the future of the ISL meant that they simply didn't have the money to pay most of the 170 applicants for the national team coach job. As luck would have had it, Indian managers are cheaper, and more amenable.

That's what the naysayers are pointing at - even the AIFF's official announcement noted that the committee pushed for an Indian to be in charge. Was this truly a meritorious appointment then?

The AIFF Executive Committee, in the presence of the Technical Committee, has approved the appointment of Khalid Jamil as the new head coach of the Senior India Men's National Team.#IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/R1FQ61pyr4 - Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) August 1, 2025

It's a question that has dogged Jamil throughout his career - he's always fielded questions over his style of play, his apparent lack of tactical nous and derision of his previous achievements. And yet, time after time, Jamil comes up with the goods.

Even his first ever managerial appointment, going from the youth teams of Mumbai FC to the head coach gig, came because the club were in dire financial straits, and was met with disdain from the local fanbase. It would have been easy for the youngest coach in the division to simply walk away, but head down, he plugged away. Toiling for seven long seasons, he built his reputation as a survivor. His reward for keeping the club afloat was to be let go because the fans were demanding 'prettier football' (Mumbai FC were relegated the following season and the club ceased to exist).

And then, Aizawl FC came calling.

The man who had never even wanted to be a coach, who had never wanted to leave Mumbai (his playing and managerial career, right from his college days were in the same city), was tasked with taking charge of a club in a vastly different footballing culture, with different expectations.

He left for Aizawl the next day.

Therein lies the paradox of Khalid Jamil - a man many describe as a pragmatist, with a penchant for negative football, was someone who was optimistic enough to upend his entire life and move simply because someone in a city 3000km away believed in him, and it paid off handsomely.

We came to Aizawl and the rest is history CHAMPIONS OF INDIA!�� . The people of Mizoram you all deserve this. INDIA IS RED! pic.twitter.com/qj0dA5mDMk - Ashutosh_mehta1 (@Ashutosh_mehta1) April 30, 2017

It's the same naïve optimism that a lot of Indian footballers chasing their dream share. And that is Jamil's particular advantage. He knows. He knows the villages and homes and the safety of education that many Indian children leave behind to chase the perilous dream of becoming an Indian footballer.

It's why his Indian players run for him. It's why the likes of Ashutosh Mehta and Pronay Halder, two footballers with their best years behind them, still ran full tilt for Jamshedpur as they reached the ISL semifinal last season. They ran for a coach who believed in them, and lived a similar career, with the same uncertainties.

For a national team that has been accused of not playing for the shirt, Jamil comes as the perfect antidote. It's perhaps why the likes of Armando Colaco, Shabbir Ali, and IM Vijayan on the AIFF's committee pushed so hard for an Indian coach. It's what the ISL was created for in the first place - to platform the best of Indian footballing talent - whether players or managers.

Granted, it's not like the ISL made it easy. It took seven seasons before Jamil became the first Indian manager to take charge of a club full-time. Sadly, Jamil's trailblazing has been of an empty trail, with Indian managers content to stay as 'assistant managers' away from the ISL spotlight, with the few interim roles remaining as much.

File photo of Khalid Jamil R. Parthibhan/Focus Sports/ISL

Jamil stands alone in how willing he is to fail, and to do so publicly. It's what makes him a trailblazer, because very few are brave enough to take that first, perilous step. The Aizawl miracle was followed by two absolute failures at East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, and still he put in the yards at NorthEast United, taking the assistant manager role before earning the head-coach gig full-time. The club's longest unbeaten run came under his charge, including making the ISL playoffs, a feat he repeated at Jamshedpur.

India's first AFC Pro License holder, Jamil isn't what you'd expect a trailblazing coach to be. He's not considered a tactical genius, nor is he a wizard with words that can inspire greatness - both qualities considered to be had by his predecessors in the Indian football team. The one-on-one interviews he's done in his career have been few and far between. He rarely looks comfortable in front of TV cameras but does it anyway.

And yet, Jamil inspires. Perhaps his players recognize the façade of performing for the cameras doesn't matter. Perhaps more Indian coaches that follow him someday will too. All that matters is what you do on the pitch - and that's where Jamil keeps winning.

India have qualified for the AFC Asian Cup five times in their history - all of those instances have been with foreign coaches. And in taking the perilous step of choosing to take charge of this Indian team, that has fallen to a ranking as low as 133, Khalid Jamil is ready to blaze another trail, as the first Indian coach in the nation's history to earn AFC Asian Cup qualification.

One would say don't bet against him, but it hardly matters. Because the one guarantee is that even if he's surrounded by naysayers ready to tear him apart, this reticent coach will always speak loudest with the effort he puts in.

Welcome to the Khalid Jamil era.

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