It's easy to miss young India hockey midfielder Nilakanta Sharma in a crowd given his short stature — he must be hovering over the five-feet mark. But his tall hockey ability landed him a spot in the India team for the World Cup here. And in his first match against South Africa on Wednesday, he did well to hold his own. There were no mistakes in his passes and positioning but that doesn't mean there were no nerves.

"It's such a big stage, so I was obviously nervous before stepping onto the pitch in front of a packed stadium. But once the whistle blew to indicate the start of the match, all the nervousness vanished. I'm lucky that I'm able to represent my country at a World Cup at home. Not many players get this opportunity," Nilakanta tells mid-day at the Kalinga Stadium's Fan Village yesterday where some of the members of Team India were seen strolling around, shopping and generally chilling.