Ashalata Devi is poised to attain a historic career milestone when she steps onto the field at the Dasarath Stadium in Kathmandu on Thursday, becoming the first Indian footballer to play 100 international matches.
The 31-year-old from Manipur made her India debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka in March 2011. As the Indian women’s team captain is set to play her 100th international match, she is excited about the opportunity to play the landmark match against Pakistan.
“I am excited and happy that I will play my 100th game against Pakistan. The focus, however, will be on winning all the games and taking the trophy back home. This is the main dream and motive for coming to Nepal,” Ashalata told the All India Football Federation (AIFF)
“I am looking forward to all the matches in the championship because it is an extremely important tournament to us. We already suffered a setback in the last SAFF, but it will be different this time,” she added.
Haling the defender, the AIFF wrote on its website, “When she pulled on an Indian shirt for the first time … in the pre-Olympics in Dhaka against Bangladesh in March 2011, few would have imagined that Ashalata Devi would take Indian women’s football by storm in quite the way she has.”
Ashalata got her first national team call-up in 2008 when she was selected for the Indian U-17 team at the age of 15.
‘Determined to prove ourselves’
Born in Imphal, she started playing football at the age of 13. Her first professional team was the Indian Railways before she joined New Radiant Women’s Football Club of Maldives in 2015.
Later, she played for Rising Student Club (Cuttack), KRYPHSA (Imphal), Sethu (Madurai) and Gokulam Kerala in the Indian Women’s League. She is currently playing for East Bengal.
As India gear up to reclaim the title after they failed to win the regional championship last year, Ashalata will be eager to have an unforgettable outing.
“This is the sixth time I will play in SAFF. We were champions four times. I want to win this year’s title for us because it is a special championship for me. We are determined to prove ourselves,” she said.
Ashalata was a part of the Indian team that won two South Asian Games gold medals in 2016 and 2019. She was also part of the team that won the SAFF Women’s Championship four consecutive times – 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2019.