‘Father was mocked for letting me play football in shorts’: Gardener’s daughter makes India U-20

Khushbu Saroj, daughter of a gardener from Ahmedabad, overcame societal resistance and her father’s initial reluctance to earn a spot on India’s U-20 Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers team. Her journey, fueled by her mother and sisters’ support and her coach’s guidance, transformed her father’s doubts into immense pride. Khushbu’s story exemplifies perseverance and the realization of an once-impossible dream.