Indumathi Kathiresan To Lead Indian Women’s Football Team In Upcoming Matches
It was not long ago when Indumathi Kathiresan would be seen dressed in the khaki of the Tamil Nadu police, patrolling the streets of Chennai in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. From ensuring that citizens stayed indoors to aiding the essential services workers, the sub-inspector had her hands full over the past year.
The 26-year-old has now been named captain of the Indian women’s football team for the friendly matches against Uzbekistan and Belarus, away from home.
These matches come on the back of three other friendlies in Turkey against Serbia, Russia and Ukraine , in an effort to give the girls much-needed match practice ahead of the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup.
Already training in Uzbekistan, the Indian women's team will play against the hosts on April 5 and against Belarus on April 8. "I'm really thankful that we got to train for so many months even during the pandemic situation, in a safe manner. That really helped us a lot," All India Football Federation's official website quoted Kathiresan.
Having been named as captain of the Indian women's football team for the two friendlies in Uzbekistan, Indumathi described it as a "proud moment".
“It is a proud moment to have been named the captain of the Indian team for these two matches. Sangita (Basfore) had captained the side earlier (in the three matches in Turkey), and she had done a great job to guide the youngsters. It's not an easy task, but I'll try to do the best I can. I'll try to motivate everyone, so that we all move forward together as a team," Kathiresan told the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Also read: Bala Devi Becomes the First Indian Woman Footballer to Score in Europe
Kathiresan has been considered as one of the pioneers of women's football in Tamil Nadu. Her brilliant performances at the domestic level saw the state bag the Senior National Championships for the first time in 2018 and later that year, the Tamil Nadu junior team also won the national title.
Kathiresan has been a key player of the Indian women’s football setup ever since her debut in 2017.
(Edited by Amrita Ghosh)
