Defender Ritu Rani doesn’t mind being behind the scenes

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 25

India women’s team defender Ritu Rani has no qualms if some of the more established names in the midfield or up front take the plaudits from the fans. Ritu, who is from Bhiwani, reckons that those who know the game also know that the role of the defenders is equally important.

“I don’t begrudge the fans. Strikers and midfielders become the face because they are involved in goals,” Ritu told The Tribune on Saturday ahead of the team’s departure for an exposure trip to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the team prepares for the AFC women’s Asia Cup that will be held in India next year.

“If defenders are not strong, you will concede a lot. Our role is very important and the team and real followers know that,” she quipped.

Herself a midfielder, Rani has been employed in the defence by head coach Thomas Dennerby, a role she says she is comfortable with as a player’s job keeps changing as per team’s needs.

Foreign trips

The squad is scheduled to leave for the UAE next week where they are supposed to play two friendlies against the UAE and Tunisia on October 2 and 4 respectively. The team will then move to Bahrain, where they will play another set of friendlies against hosts Bahrain on October 10 and against a higher-ranked Chinese Taipei on October 13.

Ritu is also mindful of the fact that the team will have to play very well to stay in the contest. The team has been based in Jamshedpur for over a month and apart from a few camps and a few international matches, the core of the team hasn’t played a lot — either in their state leagues or the national league for last two years.

“It is true that we haven’t played a lot of matches but it was down to Covid-19. Previously, we used to play in our state leagues and would get a lot of game-time but that couldn’t happen,” Rani explained. “Under the circumstances we are lucky that we are getting to travel for matches. We will use this experience as a build-up for next year’s tournament.” she added.