Sangita Basfore: India's midfield rock who also blasts goals
Ranked 70th and largely obscure, they had stunned 46th-placed Thailand to win the qualification group and book a spot in the 2026 AFC Women's Asia Cup in Australia. Though the country has participated twice in the event—invited for the 2003 edition and were hosts in 2022, even though they withdrew due to Covid-19 outbreak in the camp–this is the first time they have progressed via the qualification system.
At the heart of the triumph was Sangita scoring a worldie to put her side in front in the 29th minute and add a scruffy second to restore India's lead, which they then fiercely safeguarded. When the final whistle blew, coach Crispin Chhetri sank to the ground, something he says he rarely does. As did Sangita, uncontrollably shedding tears of joy. 'All the hard work, all the heartbreaks, all the previous matches we couldn't win, flashbacks of everything came all together. Finally we achieved it and we could come back home happy,' Sangita tells The Indian Express.
'I am a defensive midfielder,' the 28-year-old asserts. She loves that position as well, even though depositing the ball into the back of the net was the piece of action that drew her into the game, when she was a little girl at the academy run by her uncle and former Mohun Bagan player Bijay Basfore.
It's a universal theme—most kids start playing football for the joy of scoring goals. 'At the time I loved shooting the ball. Shooting practice was my favourite pastime and I would just play barefoot with boys during their practice. I would hide their ball sometimes and play with it. This should be around 2007,' she remembers.
Bijay's seasoned eyes saw a spark in her, a gift for the game. Convincing her mother was difficult. But they coaxed her, and the mother gave her Rs 250 to buy boots and such stuff. She proudly says it was the last time she took money from her parents to play football. 'Football gave me a lot and because of this sport, I managed to give my family financial stability,' says Sangita.
This perspective kept her glued to the game during the tough years. In 2021, Sangita sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. A nightmare of an injury for most footballers, especially for box-to-box midfielders, who bust their lungs and cover an incredible part of the real estate. She underwent surgery in October that year and started the arduous task of rehabilitation. She couldn't touch a football for the next nine months. Worse, she had to foot the bill for the rehabilitation herself, from the salary she received from her job at the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
But the cruellest blow of all came shortly after she returned from surgery. 'My father passed away shortly after I got back home after my surgery,' says Sangita.
'At the time I just couldn't understand how to handle myself. My mother was alone at home. Even today to a certain extent I worry about her when she is alone at home because parents tend not to tell their kids what is in their mind,' she adds.
But she drew the energy to fight back from the game. 'A lot was happening at the time but I stayed strong, stayed focussed that I needed to play again and so my mother would be fine. It is because of this sport that we were able to find financial stability at home, I have been able to give my mother, my sister and her kids a good life. So at no point did I ever consider quitting,' she says.
Sangita had made her international debut in 2015 but says she could never really fit into the forward line. Maymol Rocky, the then national coach, told her that she has the capability to play further back. Sangita started browsing the videos of Toni Kroos and Casemiro, defensive midfield virtuosos of the time.
'So I watched videos of how the likes of Casemiro and Toni Kroos would go about their job in that position. Even today I try to learn from them,' she says.
She seamlessly shifted to the new role and impressed coach Chhetri, who had little hesitation in installing her as the side's beating heart in the qualifiers, along with her midfield partner Ratanbala Nongmaithem. 'Sangita is the kind of player who makes others around her look better. Because she takes that much load. Players like Sangita and Ratan deserve those two goals because they sacrifice everything. The things Sangita has gone through, recovered through all that pain, got back in the national team, in the starting eleven. She deserved to score those two important goals,' said Chhetri. And take India and herself into a dreamland.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
12 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Tryst with history as India seeks to break Old Trafford jinx
Until a fortnight ago, India hadn't won a Test match at Edgbaston. Shubman Gill's men created history in Birmingham with their commanding 336-run win in the second Test, correcting one anomaly. This week, they will get a chance to set another record straight at Old Trafford, a ground where nine previous Tests have failed to yield a victory. For various reasons, India have played a mere two Tests in Manchester in the preceding 35 years, the last of them 11 years ago. They were scheduled to play the fifth and final Test here in 2021 until the outbreak of Covid-19 in the ranks and the fear of what it might lead to forced Virat Kohli's men to fly out to Dubai holding a 2-1 lead. When India returned 12 months later, the Test was moved to Birmingham. By then, Rohit Sharma had replaced Kohli as the all-format captain but couldn't play the 'decider' due to Covid. In his first Test as stand-in skipper, Jasprit Bumrah oversaw a crushing seven-wicket loss with England hunting down a target of 378 with consummate ease, thanks to centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow as the hosts provided an early example of the 'Bazball' style of play that has since become their USP. The worst of India's four losses dates to July 1952 when Vijay Hazare's side was battered by an innings and 207 runs by an English outfit under Len Hutton. The skipper's century headlined an England tally of 347 for nine declared, after which India had two disastrous outings with the bat. In the first innings, with the fiery Fred Trueman (8/31) scything through their line-up, the visitors were shot out for 58 – a dubious record that went out the window in 1974 when Ajit Wadekar and his men were skittled for 42 at Lord's by Chris Old and Geoff Arnold. In the second innings, Alec Bedser and Tony Lock complemented Trueman by sharing nine wickets, India collapsing in a heap for 82 with Hemu Adhikari's 27 the highest score by an Indian across the two innings. In all, the double-figure mark was breached just five times and there were six ducks. India's last Test here was in August 2014, marked by further forgettable batting displays that netted them 152 and 161, which ensured that England's 367 was enough to drive them to an innings-and-54-run win. That was the series during which Kohli struggled to buy a run, aggregating just 134 in ten innings with a combination of James Anderson and the corridor of uncertainty his perennial bugbear. Kohli perished to the English swing king for 0 and 7, his travails mirroring that of his team's as they crashed and burned to a 1-3 hammering. Big disappointment The captain during that unedifying campaign was Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was also at the helm when India wiped the floor 0-4 on the preceding tour in 2011 despite Rahul Dravid amassing 461 runs, studded by three centuries. That was just a few months before Dhoni abruptly announced his retirement from Test cricket during the tour of Australia over the winter, though the innings loss to Alastair Cook's men in 2014 wouldn't be the Jharkhandi's Old Trafford swansong. Dhoni returned to Manchester for the 2019 50-over World Cup, making 1 and an unbeaten 56 in comfortable league wins over Pakistan and West Indies respectively. Then came the big one, the semifinal against New Zealand which spilled over to the reserve day. When rain halted proceedings on the original match day (July 9), the Kiwis had laboured to 211 for five with Ross Taylor and Tom Latham holding fort. India's batting had been in roaring form throughout the tournament, propelled by an unprecedented five centuries in a single World Cup by Rohit Sharma. There was belief within the camp that even if New Zealand posted 250, they had the resources to overhaul that total – the depth in the batting was illustrated by Ravindra Jadeja's presence at No. 8. At breakfast on the reserve day, Rishabh Pant – interestingly, one of four stumpers in that XI alongside Dhoni, K.L. Rahul and Dinesh Karthik – sought to know Dhoni's plans for the trip to London, ostensibly for the final. Some of the players intended to make the most of the early finish on the reserve day to drive individually to the English capital. Dhoni is supposed to have told his successor-in-waiting that he'd rather travel by the team bus 'one last time', the earliest indication that he was done with international cricket. As it transpired, it wouldn't be another 13 months until he'd formally announce his retirement through social media. New Zealand scrambled to 239 for eight on the reserve day when they ran out of time, setting their opponents a challenging target magnified by the overhead conditions that were exactly what Trent Boult, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson were praying for. In no time, the cream of the Indian batting, including Rohit and Kohli, were back in the hutch. At 24 for four in 10 overs with Henry breathing fire (he took three of those four wickets), India needed their famed depth to bail them out even if the odds were seriously stacked against them. Pant and Hardik Pandya ground out 32 apiece but when the left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner accounted for the latter, India were all but out for the count, 92 for six after 30.3 overs. Jadeja's arrival at the crease brought the last recognised pair together, India needing 148 at more than seven over. Then began an extraordinary counter-attack with Jadeja in the forefront. Where Dhoni was content to play second fiddle and bide his time, the left-hander from Saurashtra cut loose uninhibitedly. There were four fours and as many sixes in his 59-ball 77 which easily dominated the seventh-wicket stand of 116. The duo had brought the equation down to 32 off 20 when, against the run of play, Jadeja was foxed by a Boult slower delivery and holed out to Kane Williamson, the calmest man on the park. But Dhoni was still around and when Dhoni's around, there is still hope, isn't there? It was during this year's IPL, when Dhoni was 43; how could it not have been there when he was 37, no longer at his peak but still a fearsome force of nature? Thirty-one were required off the last two overs when Ferguson fronted up for the 49th. Boult, Henry and Santner had all bowled out, Jimmy Neesham would bowl the last over. Dhoni was the master of taking it to the last over and everyone at the ground, all Kiwis included, believed Dhoni would mentally and psychologically stare Neesham down even if 20 were needed off the final six deliveries. It was a question of not getting out to Ferguson; instead, Dhoni went airborne as he scythed the first ball over point for six, after which he patted a yorker back to the bowler. The third ball was short, banged into the pitch from wide of the crease, the line impeccable. Dhoni could only bunt it behind square, but he saw an opportunity to come back for the second. He did come back for the second, but fell fractionally short as an extraordinary direct hit, off-balance, from Martin Guptill charging in from the boundary shattered the stumps at the striker's end. It also shattered Indian hopes and aspirations. Dhoni was run out for an even 50 but no one cared, not least the protagonist himself. There was no applause for a half-century, just the deafening sound of silence while the Kiwis celebrated with gusto. If there was one moment that encapsulated India's Old Trafford travails, it was that. Happy memories of the cricket ground that lies just half a mile across from the largest Premiership football stadium of the same name are few and far between, so why not reflect on potentially the most far-reaching of the lot, the first of an incredible 51 Test centuries by the little big man of Indian cricket? Sachin Tendulkar had been dismissed for 88 in Napier in February 1990, caught by future India coach John Wright off Danny Morrison. Had he reached three-figures, he would have become the youngest Test centurion at the time. Tendulkar wasn't to be denied his maiden tryst with a hundred six months later. India were in a scrap for survival on the last day of the second Test, stumbling to 183 for six after being set 408 for victory. All the big guns – Ravi Shastri, Navjot Singh, Sanjay Manjrekar, Dilip Vengsarkar, skipper Mohammad Azharuddin and Kapil Dev – had come and gone, and only Kiran More and leggies Anil Kumble and Narendra Hirwani were to come when Tendulkar, batting at No. 6, was joined by No. 8 Manoj Prabhakar. England had nearly two and a half hours to winkle out the last four wickets and they believed if they split this alliance, the end would only be a few deliveries away. The 17-year-old Tendulkar was in the early 20s at Prabhakar's arrival. He had shown glimpses of his genius in the first innings with a polished 68 that convinced the English that he was the real deal. But the second innings was a different kettle of fish. The target was beyond India's reach, their only hope was to grind out a draw but against Devon Malcolm, Angus Fraser, Chris Lewis and veteran off-spinner Eddie Hemmings, that was easier said than done. Despite his tender age and his lack of experience – it was just his ninth Test – Tendulkar instinctively knew that going into a shell was fraught with danger. And so he played his shots, not recklessly or on a song and a prayer, but with assurance and control with a stoic Prabhakar for company. A pushed three to long-off catapulted him past hundred, the thunderous ovation just the first of thousands that would accompany him till his last day as an international cricketer. Not quite 'Sa-chin, Saaaa-chin', though there's no prizes for guessing where the genesis of that chant lies.
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- The Hindu
IND-19 vs ENG-19, 2nd Test: Rew, Ekansh steady England innings after Indian bowlers shine on Day 1
India U-19 bowlers struck at regular intervals before skipper Thomas Rew and Ekansh Singh came to the home team's rescue on day one of the second Youth Test here on Sunday. Thanks to Rew and Ekansh's 90-run partnership, England U-19 recovered from 80 for five to reach 177 for six in 44 overs. Rew top-scored for England U-19 on the opening day after RS Ambrish and Aditya Rawat picked up two wickets apiece. India U-19 skipper Ayush Mhatre won the toss and chose to field, and the decision was straightaway vindicated as Rawat and Henil Patel struck once each with the new ball to leave England at 4/2 in the second over. Rawat struck with the very first ball of the match, trapping Ben Dawkins in front of the wicket at the County Ground. In the day's second over, Patel got Adam Thomas out lbw to leave the England U-19 team in all sorts of trouble, even as one-down bat Aaryan Sawant got off the mark with a boundary. After a delayed start due to rain, the match was interrupted when the heavens opened up again, with England U-19 reaching 18 for two in 5.3 overs. ALSO READ: ENG vs IND: Nitish Kumar Reddy in danger of being ruled out of Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy The interruption was lengthy, forcing the umpires to call for an early lunch. When the proceedings began after the weather cleared up, Sawant and Rocky Flintoff tried to rebuild the innings. However, Rawat cut short Flintoff's stay in the middle when he had the batter caught by Vihaan Malhotra for a 26-ball 16 to leave the home team at 29 for three. All-rounder RS Ambrish dismissed Sawant, caught by Malhotra after the batter had reached 20 with the help of three boundaries. Ben Mayes and Thomas Rew, who is performing the dual role of captaining and keeping in this match, then steadied the innings for a brief while before the former was dismissed by Ambrish for a 31 off 40 balls. His knock contained five hits to the fence. Rew was then joined by Ekansh Singh (46 batting) in the middle, and the two forged a much-needed partnership of 90 runs for the sixth wicket to give England U-19's innings a semblance of respectability before leg-spinner Naman Pushpak took the important wicket of the home team skipper. Brief scores England U-19: 177/6 in 44 overs (Thomas Rew 59; Aditya Rawat 2/42, RS Ambrish 2/39) vs India U-19.
Indian Express
12 hours ago
- Indian Express
England vs India: Meet Alex – autograph-hunter in age of selfie-seekers who has 3 garages at home stocked with his treasures
It has been stumps a couple of hours ago but the day hasn't ended for the middle-aged man leaning against the wall of the tiny security booth next to the Headingley front gate. He stands there protecting his two extra-large grocery bags full of books from the spitting rain, a certain precursor for a downpour in these parts. It is just then that the last of the commentators to leave the arena – Cheteshwar Pujara and Dinesh Karthik – head for their waiting car. The 47-year-old Alex, in an instant, picks a few books, checks the pens in his pocket and joins a small army of fans in chasing the two former India players. He manages barely a second or two with Pujara before those clicking pictures with smartphones elbow him out of their frame. Autograph-Hunters vs Selfie-Seekers is hardly a battle, those with pens and paper are being outnumbered and outfoxed. It is a losing battle. Alex is a retail banker now but has been a signature-collector since he was 13. He too carries a camera phone, he also asks for pictures, but only after he has got the all-important scribble. 'You saw me with Pujara and Karthik, I was more interested in getting the autograph first, for me that is the winning ticket. I think there's always another chance for a picture, whereas if you don't get the autograph, the player may die on you, as morbid as that sounds,' Alex tells The Indian Express. 'The new-age fan will put more emphasis on selfies because it is all Facebook, Instagram … They want to show 'I'm with the stars, I'm with the stars'. For me, it's more the history of the game.' History takes up a lot of space in Alex's life – three big garages, to be specific. Among his collection are lots of Wisdens – the yellow-covered annual almanac, also known as the cricket Bible. The oldest one he has is from the time of World War II, the latest has Harry Brook on the cover. He also possesses all the issues in between the two. Along with the Wisdens, he has 5,000 sports books with signatures. 'I have three garages and heavy-duty locking boxes full of books. It is a passion of mine. When I moved out of my parents' home, which would have been 2010, I think they were glad to see the back of not just me but the books,' he says. 'There were at least a few rooms vacant for them. I am an observer of the game, I like to reminisce about past matches, past players. I like to meet them, I like to get their autographs. It is just a good way of meeting different people, through different ages, through all walks of life.' Along with 'different people', Alex would also bump into those with the same passion as him. While at Lord's once, he met Ilias, a fellow autograph-hunter, who would become a friend for life and someone who would add a sense of adventure to their common pursuit. 'I've known Ilias for about 27 years. He set himself a challenge to get autographs of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year that are announced every year. So I thought this was a good adventure. He has been doing it for a while, he goes to charity events, dinners, and even funerals,' says Alex, who has his own stories of chasing sports stars. With time, autograph-seekers get an idea of where they could find the stars. 'Over the years, you get an idea where players are going or staying. There are a lot of guys who go down to the hotels for the current players and commentators. I collect most of my signatures at the ground or at dinners. Like the other week, I went to a dinner event where Graham Gooch and Barry Richards were there,' says the passionate autograph-seeker. Having seen so many cricketers sign his books, Alex has his own favourites and the ones he finds 'difficult'. 'Sunil Gavaskar is very good at signing autographs. He will stand there and sign 10 things for you. You're lucky if you get one with Vivian Richards. Alastair Cook, Ricky Ponting … they are good. The most difficult was Sir Garfield Sobers, because obviously he's so elusive and doesn't like giving his autograph too frequently … Kevin Pietersen doesn't give you the time of day,' says Alex. Do signatures give an idea about a person? 'I think it does in a way, because you'll see the modern-day players in county cricket, a lot of them just give you a little initials now, or a squiggle. Not to say they're not nice people, they might do it for quickness … but I think it tells you a lot about the character. Like say a Joe Root takes his time with an autograph,' says Alex, agreeing that in these days of insta-messaging and emojis, signatures are getting smaller. But does he at times feel insulted when snubbed or neglected by the stars? He does but … 'It's crazy really and very addictive. I have gotten a lot better since I have been married. You have got to look at it like smoking, like drinking, like alcohol, like women,' he says and follows it with a profound philosophy of standing in soaking rain waiting for cricketers. 'My wife says this is a complete waste of time. She would look down on me pestering people for autographs. She asks me – 'What are you going to do with it, you're keeping it in garages, in the house. Are you really appreciating the value of this stuff, or the effort you've put in to get it as well?'. I totally understand what she is saying. But I enjoy this. I mean we're all on this earth for a very short time. I think we have to enjoy what our passions are.' With that, he once again glances at the stadium gate with searching eyes – that's his signature move.
