It is good to go out when you are still wanted: Aditi

At a time when India’s women’s teams are shining brighter than they ever have this century, Aditi Chauhan announced her retirement from professional football. India will be going to the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, having qualified on merit for the first time, but on Wednesday, hours before the under-20 team beat Uzbekistan 4-1, Chauhan decided to end a career that began in 2008.

- Dhiman Sarkar

And it wasn’t on a whim. “You know that everything I do is planned, at least to the extent that I can plan things,” Chauhan told HT in an interview on Thursday. But why not stretch it for one more season and see if she could be on the plane to Australia in eight months?

“To be honest, I was expecting a national team call after the last IWL (Indian Women’s League) season. That and the support of my parents and people close to me were why I was trying to make a comeback after another ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury. My performance should have been enough,” she said.

In February 2023, Chauhan had left an India-Nepal friendly in Chennai in tears after her second ACL injury. She returned in IWL last season with Kolkata club Sreebhumi FC. Playing in a city “that genuinely appreciates football and gets behind the team” was another box ticked for the player from Delhi.