For the past few days, I have become a passionate follower of the Indian Premier League. What excites me more than the cheerleaders and film stars in the stands is the stimulating brand of cricket that is being played in the middle. Conventionalists may still frown upon the idea of converting the graceful sport into a simple slam-bang game but no other form of cricket is as spectator-friendly as Twenty20 is.

The IPL organisers have also managed to whip up the craze by naming the eight participating teams after different cities. It is a clever attempt to ignite the local fervour like it is being done in football all over the world, including India.

When I sit down to watch the IPL matches every evening, it reminds me of Santosh Trophy. Like the IPL, the national championship for football is also a battle of wits between different regions and despite the downward graph of the game in India, Santosh Trophy is still a hugely popular tournament across the country.

Statistics show that National Football League (now I-League) has somehow failed to attract crowd in the last couple of years except in a few matches involving the two Calcutta majors. But it has not been the case with Santosh Trophy.

The tournament, which started in 1941, had always been a thumping success. In 2005, a capacity crowd watched the matches in Delhi. Last year in Gurgaon, spectators were present in huge numbers in the Punjab-Bengal final though both the teams were without their star players from Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and JCT.

No sport in the world can thrive without the presence of spectators, even in this era of television. In my opinion, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) would do well if they try to cash in on the popularity of Santosh Trophy to spread the message of the game all over India.

I am certainly not asking them to follow the IPL trend. Football does not need cheerleaders or film stars as the game itself is a wholesome entertainment of 90 minutes. What all I feel is that compared to the I-League, Santosh Trophy shouldn’t be treated like a second class citizen.

Since the advent of the NFL in the 1996-97 season, I see a concerted effort to push Santosh Trophy to the background. After being associated with football for nearly 60 years, I know one thing for certain that in India a common man can be more obsessive for his state than for his club. And frankly, the so called club culture only exists in a couple of states like Bengal and Goa. In the rest of the places, it is the state that matters most, not the club.

I myself have played Santosh Trophy for two states — Bihar and Bengal. I have also represented Railways for a long time in the national meet. Thrice I have won the trophy as a player and twice as a coach. I have learned that no football tournament in the country stretches the imagination of people more than the Santosh Trophy.

The I-League is basically a five-centre tournament. It could be reduced to four venues this time. Till now, it hardly has any impact on football fans in places like Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur or Delhi. But when Santosh Trophy is staged in these states, thousands of people turn out to cheer for their respective states.

With the 62nd edition of the Santosh Trophy coming up in Jammu and Kashmir next month, the AIFF should advise all the states to send their best possible sides for the meet. It should be played on top class pitches and beamed across the country through the official television channel of the AIFF.

When I was a 16-year-old boy, I burst into the scene as a striker for a lowly Bihar side in the 1954 Nationals in Calcutta. I never had to look back again. No other tournament in the country gives as much chance to the youngsters as Santosh Trophy does. The AIFF should do its best to keep the tradition growing.