Top five upcoming women footballers in Indian football

Anuska Kumari has impressed with her performance in the U-16 SAFF competition and is a prospect for Indian Football.

Will Indian football again get back to its glory days? Can we see the Indian men’s team at the World Cup? These are certain questions that are repeatedly asked by the football enthusiasts.

Amidst the focus on men’s football, we most often miss keeping an eye on the women’s progression in the game. Certain players have been magnificent with their performance for their clubs and might prove to be a huge asset for the national team in the coming days. 

In this article, we will take a look at five women footballers in Indian football who have already started garnering attention with their regular performances. Please note: We haven’t ranked them.

Anuska Kumari 

The recently concluded 2024 SAFF U-16 Women’s Championship had some thrilling matches. The Indian women’s team also had a good run in the tournament and secured the runner-up position. 

Anuska Kumari was a standout performer in the tournament. The youngster scored four goals, notably. Among the four, one goal was in the final that helped the Indian team to take the game into the tiebreaker. Moreover, she remained the only player who scored against the champion team in the tournament, one in the league stage and the other in the final.

Sibani Devi Nongmeikapam

India’s Sibani Devi was the top goal-scorer in the 2024 SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship with four goals to her name. Of those four goals, the first three came as a hat-trick in the match against Bhutan and the other one was a crucial goal against Bangladesh in the final of the tournament which took the game into the tiebreaker. 

In the days to come, Sibani could be a huge prospect for the senior national team as such goal-scoring prowess will surely help the Blue Tigresses’ momentum against stronger opponents. 

Anika Devi Sharubam

The Indian goalkeeper in the 2024 SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship played an important role in the team’s triumph. Anita rarely faced any tough threat in the league stage. It was the final of the tournament where her reflexes were called upon. 

When the Bangladesh team took the aggressive role in the match and started creating numerous chances, it was Anika who safeguarded the goal and kept them away from scoring on most occasions. 

Pushpa Parab

In the ongoing 2023-24 Indian Women League 2, certain players have been performing regularly and have helped their teams to take the top place after the group stage matches. 

One such player is Pushpa Parab of Tuem FC. Pushpa has scored seven goals in the tournament so far. She has also netted a hat-trick against Celtic Queens, something which helped her team register a 5-2 win in that fixture. With her team progressing to the final round of the tournament, she will surely try to keep performing in the same way to help her club win the title. 

Sujata Mahata

Another player who is the talk of the town in the 2023-24 Indian Women League 2 is Sreebhumi FC’s Sujata Mahata. She is just behind Pushpa in the Golden Boot race. 

She has scored six goals so far, which has helped her team propel to the final round. Her major contribution came against MGM Ambush, where she scored a hat-trick that helped her team register an emphatic 11-0 win. 

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