Indian Striker, Bala Devi to miss out on the AFC Women’s Asian Cup due to Injury
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Bala Devi, the 31 year old Indian Striker is likely to miss the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022 due to her ACL injury. After spending 18 months in Scotland she was forced to return to India as her Visa expired.
“I couldn’t extend the visa by staying in UK. I had to exit. I don’t know when I’ll go back. I have to do rehab (for the injury), so it might be better for me to spend time at home for now,” said Bala.
Bala Devi became the first Indian women professional footballer to sign a contract with a club outside India. She signed a 18 month contract with Scottish club Rangers W.F.C on January 2020.
Bala Devi went through rehab after her ACL injury and has recently gone through surgery from which it might take a few months to recover.
“From what I have heard, Bala has an ACL injury and she is not with us because of that,” Indian Women football team boss, Thomas Dennerby said.
“But this is September and ACL injury normally takes a couple of months. For her it’s really a tough situation to be ready for Asian Cup.”
Bala Devi’s Football Career
Bala Devi is very good with the ball at her feet and has a good eye for a goal. She has won the AIFF Women’s player of the year 4 times in her career. She has also won the SAFF Championship 3times.
Bala Devi wears the number 10 shirt in Indian team as well as for the Rangers. She has scored 52 goals in 58 appearances for the National team and about a 100 goals in the domestic leagues.
She has been a role model figure for all the Women in Indian football. She has told in one of her interviews that Indian Women’s Football need much more competition and much more activities which is currently where India is lagging behind.
“In India, even the IWL (Indian Women’s League) is played for a month. Once the league is over, players disperse. Some of them give up playing. When the next edition is announced, players assemble again. This doesn’t help anyone. We need more matches, more competitions. Whenever an opportunity knocks, players should be ready,” said Bala.
The Indian Women Football team will have to play the AFC Women’s Asian Cup without Bala Devi. Thomas Dennerby will surely be ready with his team to give a tough fight in the competition and will aim to win it.
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Raunak Bose
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