Kolkata: India’s preparation for next month’s AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia was set back by a left foot ACL injury to forward Anju Tamang. Karishma Shirvoikar will be her replacement, AIFF said in a media release on Tuesday.
Tamang, 30, has played 69 internationals since her debut in 2017. She scored against Timor-Leste and had three assists, including the one for India’s equaliser against Thailand, in the Asian qualifiers last year. According to an AIFF official, who did not want to be named, Tamang could be out for over six months and will require surgery. “She will be a big miss,” the official said.
One of the fittest players in the squad, Tamang was in form having scoring twice in the closed-door friendlies in Turkiye. She scored the first goal in the 2-1 win against Switzerland’s FC Schlieren and had put India ahead in the 2-0 win against Russian club Zvezda-2005 Perm.
Employed with the Railways, Tamang is representing Sribhumi in the 2025-26 Indian Women’s League which has been paused to help the senior women’s team prepare for Asia’s apex tournament, for which they have qualified for the first time. Tamang won the IWL with East Bengal in 2025-25 and with Gokulam Kerala in 2019-20.
India start against Vietnam on March 7, play Japan on March 7 and Chinese Taipei on March 10.
