Guwahati, Feb. 13: The captain of India’s handball team, Mini Mohana Kumari Rajsekharan, and the national team’s seniormost player Juliet Lawrence see a bleak future for the game in the country with the government and sports patrons turning a blind eye to its promotion.

Talking to The Telegraph here, Rajsekharan — fondly called Mini M.R. — and Juliet rued, “In India, handball is a neglected game. Nobody is bothered. It is literally nobody’s baby. There is no motivation to play.” Both are representing defending champions Kerala in the XXXI Senior National Women’s Handball Championship.

Juliet, who has played for the country for the past 11 years, further said: “Had the government or the public sector units promoted the game, Indians would have been the best in world handball. Unlike other sportspersons, only Mini is employed by a bank. She was also absorbed recently after running from pillar to post for several years. This itself is enough to demotivate anyone from taking up the game as a career option,” she added.

Mini has represented the country in five major international tournaments during the past five years. The two were also part of the Indian team when the country won the Commonwealth Games gold in the junior category. Besides, the two lamented that there was not enough infrastructure to produce world class players who could match the quality of the players from the Scandinavian countries.