HYDERABAD: He's only had the slightest taste of international football but Kerala Blasters’ young defender Lalruatthara has been left wanting for more.
The Mizoram-born star made his debut against the Kyrgyz Republic in India’s final Asian Cup qualifier and is keen to nail down a starting spot.
Lalruatthara is one of the players who have benefited from Stephen Constantine’s policy to introduce youth into the national setup and he is one of the handful of players in their early twenties, who have been called up to the camp in Mumbai.
“Debuting against the Kyrgyz Republic was a dream come true,” said Lalruatthara in Mumbai, where he is part of the preparatory camp for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup. “This was a huge experience. But, I have to work even harder now to stay on the run.”
“I’m learning every day and my target is to get better every day. I feel I’m a much-improved player compared to my first day with the national team,” he said. Lalruatthara was adjudged the ISL’s emerging player of the year but he believes that he has a lot more work to do to build on that.
“It has been a great season for me. But I have to keep my focus right,” he said.
And even though the club season ended more than a month ago, Lalruatthara has not been slacking off. He has been sticking to his fitness routines during the off-season as well.
“It’s compulsory that a player follows the routine regularly, even during the off-season,” said the former Aizawl FC star, who was part of their 2016-17 I-League winning squad.
“There’s no shortcut to success and we have to stick to our schedule to be in right shape, come what may.”
The Intercontinental Cup will start from June 1 and will see India face Kenya, New Zealand and Chinese Taipei in a series of matches. The All India Football Federation initially had plans to invite high-profile teams like Armenia, ranked above India.
Even the final line-up is different from the one they announced, with South Africa withdrawing. This has left India as the highest ranked team in the fray, taking some sheen off the tournament. Nevertheless, Lalruatthara believes that the event will be a good test ahead of the Asian Cup in January 2019.
“This tournament has a great importance in our preparation as it’ll help us gauge ourselves before the AFC Asian Cup,” he said.