Swaroop Sarkar confident that his team will give their best at ESWC

From left to right – Battulga "ZilK" Temuulen, Sunil "Snrlx" Suresh, Krishna "kriSSh" Salecha, Swaroop "MAD." Sarkar and Gokul "dmn" Sagar

Silence loomed like a cloud over the not so crowded LXG Gaming Café in Bangalore. The comeback didn't seem improbable but questions were asked and no one was willing to place their bets on a certain team. A sequence of mouse clicks later , a fist comes down hard on the table which eventually leads to the keyboard getting some air time thanks to the Newtonian force and an expensive headphone is flicked into the air as five men erupt into unbounded joy and pure euphoria . Team Virtual Impact had sealed their three map series win over Team Wolf , which was epitomised with their adrenaline fuelled comeback at the heavily CT sided bomb defusal map, Nuke .

Team Wolf , that represented India earlier this year at ESL Cologne 2014, bow out graciously as a new representative steps up to raise India's flag at the grandest stage of all , ESWC Paris 2014 .

I got the splendid opportunity to sit down with Swaroop "MAD." Sarkar from Team Virtual Impact before they embark on their journey to Paris . Q. How did the team prepare for the Indian qualifiers?

Swaroop – To be honest, its difficult for us to prepare well and hard for the events. Some off us like Gokul and Sunil have a full time job, from which they can’t take too many days off without a proper excuse. At the same time , Zilk is a full time student in Bangalore as well.

So it is very difficult for us to sit down together, strategize and come up with a plan of action. But yes we do try our level best to find as much time as we can to be together a few days before events. Plus as we have a lineup which presently comprises of 4 players from Bangalore and 1 player from Mumbai, we do miss out on a whole lot of practice compared to our European opposition, where five of us are together.

For the ESWC Indian qualifiers, other than individual practice, we did play 1 day together just before the event. We then went home and spoke about our game and a few basic strategies and guidelines which we followed up the next day.Q. Since when have you been playing Counter-Strike , both competitively and casually? Has it always been just one game ?

Swaroop – I started long back and it must be more than 8 years since it all began. For me yes it was competitive from the beginning because I remember attending WCG India 2003 without much of earlier experience. Yes , I was always inclined towards Counter-Strike. more than any other game. Though I do enjoy playing some single players to relax and rewind.Sunil - Its been 6 years now. I first started out casually but saw a few tourneys and then went into competitive. It has always been just one game for me.Gokul - It has been 6-7 years now. I was only interested in one game and it has always been the competitive scene for me.

Zilk – 5 to 6 years for me. In Mongolia there was a healthy amount of 1.6 events and tournaments so I have always been a part of the competitive scene, right from the start.

Krishna "kriSSh" Salecha who wasn’t able to participate in the interview, seen in action

Q. How would you compare your skill level at 1.6 and Global Offensive. Is there a difference ?

Swaroop – Yes there is a moderate difference. 1.6 placed a tad bit more emphasis on aim and individuality, where one player could turn the game around with a single brilliant play. Global Offensive as a whole needs more off team coordination and tactics, due to the broader use of smokes and flashes and the inclusion of molotovs.Skill-wise, we are now entering the confident phase we boasted at 1.6Q. Team Wolf who represented India in at ESL Cologne , didn't go down without a fight despite being matched up with teams like Ninja’s in Pajamas (NiP) and HellRaisers . How confident is your team when it comes to facing such dominant and intimidating teams at ESWC 2014?

Swaroop – It is very difficult for Indian teams to outperform other teams in the world due to one sole reason. Our approach towards the tournament. For India the scenario is starting to look bright right now especially the last few months in this particular field. Till this moment we could never scrim (play competitive) with other good teams and practice or take up gaming too seriously. It had always been true that India had skilled players but not a dedicated team or members who looked at this as a future career and means of livelihood. But things are looking good right now. We sincerely hope that the next upcoming teams gets more benefits and is inclined to pursue this as a career right from the start and do even more better than us and Team Wolf have.

Yes Team Wolf did pretty good at ESL. Outside the gaming competitive scenario they are our friends and mates and we obviously are proud off them for what they did in Cologne.

We are fairly confident that we'll give our best and hope to improve India's performance in an internation gaming tournament.

Q. As the team prepares for Paris , this must be quite a patriotic moment for you , despite the fact that the Counter-Strike Global Offensive scene in particular isn't exactly the most noticed in India ?

Yes it’s the best feeling any gamer or a team can feel. Look, gamers like us started out playing when there wasn’t much scope for us. Money and fame are necessary and we did get a bit off it, but I am pretty sure any dedicated gamer or team would obviously feel that the best thing one can achieve out of this field is the recognition of being one of India’s best and getting the chance to represent India on the world platform.

I would beg to differ with the fact that Global Offensive is not being noticed right now. Yes, India had a great number of 1.6 players and still has but the momentum has rightly shifted to Global Offensive now. See, gamers who are into this field for the competitive scene never continued with 1.6 simply because it was replaced worldwide. Even if people play or pursue 1.6 there will be no scope for them in future right now. Right now we see so many gamers from India continuing with Counter-Strike Global Offensive and hopefully for the betterment of the Indian gaming scene, the numbers will keep increasing.

Q. The readers will agree that it's about time we confront the elephant in the room . What is society's opinion on your gaming life style?

Swaroop "MAD." Sarkar seen in action

Swaroop - It’s a mixed bag. We totally agree that gaming in majority isn’t looked upon as a good thing by the society, but it has changed drastically in the last few years or months. The reason for society’s negative view is the fact that the exposure was less in this field till date. Parents and relatives used to think or still do think that this is a video game which kids play just for time pass. Most of them never understood the fact or thought of this as a sport where team work, skills, coordination and planning all matters significantly. I personally have been immensely lucky and proud to have parents who have understood what I do . They have been supportive of me right from the beginning and have always urged me to go all the way. Its nice when they wish me luck before events and when they say they are proud off me and the team for the win. Sometimes they even ask after an event as to what went wrong or right.But yes I agree there is a large number of parents and people who still don’t look at gaming in with a positive attitude. It’s a bit understandable because in India, gaming isn’t seen as a viable career option. But after ESL and ESWC things are improving, so we are pretty sure in coming few months or years, we will see more supportive parents and relatives which will change society’s view on professional gamers.

Q. Is this your career path for the foreseeable future or are youpursuing some sort of education ?

Swaroop – Yes most of us are pursuing some sort of education or are working right now. About gaming being the career for our future, I think we need to see how it shapes up and works out to come to a proper decision.Q. The potential of the E-Sports market is huge right now in India and it is growing at a rapid rate in the form of mainstream entertainment . Do you foresee a household news channel , reporting Indian success when it comes to gaming ?

Swaroop – Yes it is growing and we do foresee news channels reporting the success and developments in the gaming field. E-Sports in India is expanding at a tremendously fast rate. Nodwin Gaming has and is trying to make some great positive changes to this specific field. So now its upto gamers and the teams to support this and pursue it to make it into the next big thing in India

Q. To put a cliche end to this interview , anything you would like to say to the hundreds of people who's expectation you are riding on ?

Swaroop – We are really thankful for the huge amount of support we got from so many people till date. Yes we know the amount of expectations that all the people have from us. We assure you all, that we are trying our best in difficult conditions to do better and better. We will be giving our level best for this event and the results will show.

I would like to personally thank Swaroop and his team for taking time out from their immensely busy schedule to partake in an interview. On behalf of every gamer in India, I wish them the best of luck in Paris and hope they make the entire country proud of them.