Dhaka, June 17 -- The familiar lament that Indian football fans have learnt to live with has returned after the World Cup kicked off last week.

For followers of the Blue Tigers, as the Indian men's national team is known, the question is one of the sport's great cliches.

India has never progressed beyond the preliminary rounds of the Asian zone qualifiers, yet the World Cup is celebrated with fervour in football-mad states such as West Bengal, Kerala and Goa.

A growing number of accredited Indian journalists cover the tournament on the ground despite their country having no stake in it.

The irony is not lost on those in the press box. A senior Indian football writer who has covered four World Cups told the BBC that colleagues frequent...