First Indian woman footballer to play 100 int'l matches

Kathmandu, PTI: Captain Ashalata Devi will become the first Indian woman footballer to play 100 international matches when she takes the field in the SAFF Championship opening match against Pakistan here on Thursday. The 31-year-old Manipuri made her India debut in the pre-Olympics tournament in Dhaka against Bangladesh in March 2011, and the star defender has come a long way since then. "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," the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said while hailing Devi's feat. Devi was called up for the India U-17 team in 2008 when she was 15. Born in Imphal, she began playing football at the age of 13.

She was initially with the Indian Railways football team and 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 with East Bengal. "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 said after reaching here for the SAFF Championships.