Crispin Chettri is back in charge of the Indian women’s national team, restored as head coach just months after being replaced and with another major cycle looming into view.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed his reappointment on Tuesday, handing the reins back to a coach who knows this group, its ceiling and its scars.
Back to the hot seat
Chettri returns at a delicate moment. India are in Nairobi for the FIFA Series 2026 Kenya, a friendly window on paper but, in reality, a live audition for a reset side and a coach with unfinished business.
He had first taken over in February last year, guiding the team through the qualifiers for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. Then came a sharp twist: in January, the AIFF turned to Amelia Valverde, moving Chettri aside and betting on a fresh voice before the continental showpiece.
That gamble did not pay off.
Valverde out after flat Asian Cup
Valverde’s tenure ended as quickly as it began. India’s long-awaited return to the AFC Women's Asian Cup — their first appearance in more than two decades — fizzled out in the group stage. No wins. No momentum. No extension.
The campaign in Australia was meant to be a statement of progress. Instead, it became a line in the sand. Last month, the AIFF Technical Committee decided against renewing Valverde’s contract, clearing the way for a familiar figure to walk back through the door.
Chettri, once the outgoing coach, is now the comeback appointment.
New staff, new window
He has moved fast. For the FIFA Series in Kenya, Chettri has named a 22-member squad, using the international window to reassert his ideas and re-establish his authority on a team that has heard too many voices in too short a time.
There is change on the touchline as well. Sujata Kar, crowned 2025 AIFF Women’s Coach of the Year, steps in as assistant coach, a notable promotion for one of the most respected figures in the domestic game. Fysal K Bapu joins as goalkeeping coach, tasked with sharpening a department that will be under constant examination as India try to climb back onto the continental stage.
The message from the federation is clear: continuity of knowledge, but with fresh energy around it.
A second chance, with higher stakes
For Chettri, this is more than a return. It is a second chance with higher stakes, a chance to finish what he started in the Asian Cup qualifying cycle and to prove that the brief detour under Valverde was the wrong turn.
The setting is Nairobi, the competition a friendly series. The implications stretch far beyond. How quickly he can steady the group, imprint his structure again, and turn disappointment into direction will shape not just this window, but India’s push toward the next Women’s Asian Cup.
The coach is back. Now the question is whether the team can follow.
