Kochi. Midfielder Indumati Kathiresan (Indumathi Kathiresan) In the initial days with the Indian women’s team, she had to struggle a lot with communication on the field due to language barriers. Indumathi believes that this will be the key to success in the upcoming AFC Asian Cup. India will host this continental tournament from January 20 to February 6 at three venues in Maharashtra. According to the All India Football Federation (AIFF), Indumathi said, “When you play in the midfield, communication on the field is very important.”
She said, ‘People make mistakes by pointing out the mistakes of others. When my teammates look into my eyes on the field, they should know that if they make a mistake, I will help them. When I look into their eyes, they should do the same.’ Indumathi, daughter of a daily wage labourer, recalled being called to the national team trials camp for a month and said that she was not able to communicate properly with any of her teammates due to language.
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She said, ‘I was among 50 girls for the national team trials but I was the only one from Tamil Nadu. None of the girls spoke Tamil and I could neither speak Hindi nor English. So I could not communicate with anyone. It was really difficult not to be able to do this for a month. Sometimes I would call my mother and cry and she would ask me to come back but I knew I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t understand much of what the other players were saying, I would just smile and nod my head and keep playing.’
Indumathi said, ‘I had to change a lot. All the coaches told me that I need to talk to other players because football is a game in which communication is important. So I started learning and now I can do it.’ Indumathi, a sub-inspector of Tamil Nadu Police, never imagined that one day she would play for the Indian team in a tournament like the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
Tags: Indian football, Sports news
FIRST PUBLISHED : January 6, 2022, 17:53 IST