From growing up in a small American town of East Hampton to running a football club in the national capital of the second most populous country in the world, Delhi Dynamos FC Director Rohan Sharma’s journey has been quite a dynamic one to say the least.

Attracted by the footballing revolution heralded in by the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) in 2014, the 25-year-old took over the mantle at Delhi Dynamos in 2016. While he may not have been at the forefront for Delhi last season, Hero ISL 2017-18 has seen him create quite a stir after completely taking over the reins at the capital club. The Lions have been roaring both on and off the pitch this year, which isn’t that much of a surprise really given Delhi’s propensity for attacking football on the pitch and Sharma’s outspoken nature which comes to the fore, generally on Twitter.

Having said that, two games into the season and it hasn’t exactly been plain sailing for the highest-scoring team in the league from last year. “Yes, It’s a good start. Two games so far, a good one against FC Pune City but two extremely difficult games in general. I’m someone who believes that three points from each game would be good. It may be unrealistic, but I liked the win against Pune, and it was a tough loss against Bengaluru FC,” Sharma told indiansuperleague.com in an exclusive interview.

Delhi opted to rope in star names in the first few editions of the league but last year saw a slight alteration in their approach with the club choosing to sign promising domestic youngsters. The current season has seen them continue to offer youth a chance with players like Lallianzuala Chhangte rising to the occasion.;

While winning the league remains Delhi’s primary objective, the young professional insists that developing young talent is equally important for the overall progress of the club and Indian football. “The main aim is to win the [Hero ISL] trophy, and every club wants that. We need more players to get into the national team and move up the FIFA rankings. I’m sure for our team and players and coaches, it’s about winning the trophy. For me, I like the fact that the team is young. We all want the sport to grow in the capital city and we all want a good team, but the road is difficult,” he emphasised.

The Dynamos recently inked a strategic partnership with Qatar's Aspire Academy which has some of the best training facilities in the world and Sharma admitted that the decision to have such a young side was made with an eye on long-term development. “Why do we have such a young team? Why do we have such a focus towards getting young talent? Because I want to make the team like FC Barcelona. How at FC Barcelona, you get the players at a young age, and they grow into the team. I want to be the first owner out of all the ISL owners to do this. I want them to develop at a young age. I want to create a framework for football programmes, develop centres and let football grow.” 

The ongoing season serves up new challenges like a longer campaign as well as a couple of new clubs to contend with and Sharma is under no illusions as to how competitive Hero ISL 2017-18 will be. "This season, how Mumbai beat Goa and we (Delhi) beat Pune goes to show the unpredictable and tactical nature of the league; so, it’s going to be a really tough season. I know Bengaluru are favourites because of their squad and the form they're in but it’s a long season, right? The more our team gets to know each other, the better it will be for us,” he said. 

Sharma taking over the club at a relatively young age, however, will inevitably lead to questions about his ability to make decisions thanks to his brave and outspoken personality. He is known to wear his heart on his sleeve, celebrate jubilantly from the owner’s box during matches and voice his opinions on Twitter. Even some of his actions, like a recent tweet ahead of Delhi’s match against Bengaluru, have landed him in hot water. 

Needless to say, Bengaluru’s passionate fans didn’t take very kindly to his comments and sent Sharma a barrage of tweets airing their displeasure. The Delhi Dynamos Director, in keeping with his club and own personality, wasn’t going to lose too much sleep over the issue. “The people of Delhi are generally very upfront, straightforward, and outspoken, so that is where it comes from. I’ve got thick skin. I don’t take anything personally,” he said. 

Bengaluru of course powered through to a 4-1 victory over the Dynamos last week which left very little room for any additional banter from the Lions’ Director. 

“All the teams are very good, but the way Bengaluru are playing and the way they are reading the opposition teams is fantastic. They know how to attack and out of all the teams, I think Bengaluru are the strongest,” he said effusively. 

As we signed off from the interview, it was clear there were two things that Hero ISL fans could surely look forward to this season: the high-octane adrenaline-pumping action on the pitch and the friendly banter between fans and sometimes also owners.