Ashunta lakra biography books

Indian women hockey captain used brother’s shoe to practice

Indian women’s hockey team captain Ashunta Lakra hardly imagined she would one day literally step into the shoes of her brother Bimal Larkra when she took his old pair of shoes to practice on the Astroturf ground here.

“I took my brother Bimal’s old pair as practising without a pair of good shoes can lead to injuries on Astroturf grounds,” Ashunta told PTI in an interview.

“Those days it was difficult even to pay hostel fee regularly, let alone buying a pair of good shoes which cost about Rs 1000,” she said.

Giving credit to her international hockey playing brothers, Bimal and Birendra, for inspiring her to take the game, she made her debut with a bang when she became a part of the Indian under-18 girls team that lifted the Asia Cup in 2000.

Eleven years later, Ashunta has literally stepped i