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Tarini Kumar

@tarini.kumar.s

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💼 | Investment Banker
⚽ | Club Captain @misakaunitedfc
🎬 | Something special, coming soon!

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Meet Tarini Kumar, investment banker by profession, football captain by heart.

For the past decade, her life has revolved around balancing two full-time commitments: building a career in investment banking while leading her football club through national and state leagues across India.

In between squeezing matches into workdays, rushing from training to the office, and taking calls at half-time, she has remained relentless in pursuing football at the highest level in the country.

As captain, she has led Bengaluru based Misaka United to the national stage twice. During the club's first Indian Women's League campaign in 2023, she began filming her teammates, which eventually became The Untold Stories of Indian Women's Football, a first-of-its-kind mini series spotlighting the lives of women in the game.

Three years later, after Misaka United once again fought its way back to the national league, she decided to document the entire season from the inside. The result is a feature documentary, currently in post-production, following the club's comeback journey and offering an intimate look at the players, owners, and coaches behind one of India's most unique women's football clubs.

Beyond playing and building the documentary, Tarini spends much of her time thinking about the state of women's football in India. Through research, storytelling, and the ambition to build something meaningful in the space, she hopes to help create a more sustainable ecosystem for the next generation.

Image by @paulpsvc by @tarini.kumar.s

🔵🔴 THE ENGINE. THE VISION. THE CONTROL. 🎯⚽

#GoMisaka #LXMEIWL2 #Midfielders #WomensFootball

[Misaka United, Misaka United Women, IWL 2, Indian Women’s League 2, women’s football India, Indian women’s football, women’s football team, women’s football league, Indian football, women’s soccer, football season 2026, football team preparation, match ready, women’s football club, Indian football journey, football training, women in sports, women’s football India 2026, Mysore football, Karnataka football, road to IWL 2, football team goals, Misaka United squad] by @tarini.kumar.s

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@misakaunitedfc 🔵🔴⚪️ by @tarini.kumar.s

After two quiet seasons post our 2023 IWL run, we came back fighting this Super Division ⚽

***

Year 8 in @misakaunitedfc colors — and what a mix this squad was:

- 14-year-olds making their 11s debut

- Future national team players

- @laura.estibeiro.3 & @tanviehans reminding me: age is just a number (>80 combined and still outworking the rest of us) 😅

- @ajaxhearts coaching debut

***

And...it clicked. A top 2 finish and a national campaign (IWL 2) that awaits us 🥈

Grateful every time I get to compete in the game I love.

***

Big thanks to:

@ajaxhearts – for all the efforts to stitch this one together

@capt_shoaib @imtiyaz3010 – for fighting the good fight, year after year

@devikaraman – for hopping on another rollercoaster with me… still not sure she read the fine print

More to come 🔴⚪🔵👊🏽 by @tarini.kumar.s

8 seasons ⚽️ One jersey 👕 One heart 💙

#OurCaptain #OneofOurOwn #GoMisaka by @tarini.kumar.s

27 was my year of reckoning. Unsurprisingly, football was at the center of it.

The origin story is typical of any of my teammates.

𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴.
𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.
𝘞𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬.

The journey of playing competitively for women in India can be angst ridden.

𝘈 10-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨…
𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱?
𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦?

The relentless pursuit of passion, however, opens other doors.

𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱, 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
𝘈𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴.
𝘈 𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭, 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.

***

My 6 years captaining Misaka United FC gave me purpose. This purpose also camouflaged a personal journey that took 27 years to unravel.

𝘐𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘪𝘥.
𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵.
𝘈 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱.

As I take a breather from playing competitively, I will continue to give back to a sport that inadvertently, gave me everything.

It’s been a pleasure @misakaunitedfc 🔴🔵⚪ by @tarini.kumar.s

𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 2 | 2026

***

In the school of hard knocks, this chapter earned its place.

Sport has always been my toughest teacher.
And I'm not done learning yet.

@roots_football ⚽️ by @tarini.kumar.s

3...🌊🏄🏽‍♀️⚽️🏋🏼‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️🎬🥊🎾☕🎢💫 by @tarini.kumar.s

Before June comes to an end, Happy Rainbow Month baby @tarini.kumar.s 😘🏳️‍🌈

(pride month, love is love) by @tarini.kumar.s

🔥 Balancing an Investment Banking career, studying for CAT & captaining a national-level football team? ⚽💼

In our latest episode, we sit down with Tarini, captain of Misaka United FC and creator of a first-of-its-kind, all-access documentary on Indian women’s football !

From discovering her passion in school to tackling real, tough conversations about the sport—this is an episode you don’t want to miss. 🎙️✨

👇 Drop a comment below with your favorite takeaway from the teaser!

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🎙️ Watch the full conversation with Tarini Kumar on Sportspod

#sportspodwithrk #footballer #womensfootball #isl #karanatakafootball indianfootball athelete inspiringwomen by @tarini.kumar.s

In our latest podcast, we are joined by members of The Untold Stories of Indian Women’s Football. Mithila Ramani, Tarini Kumar, and Devika Raman talk us through their experience in football and the conception of their series.

The trio address the need for the podcast and their journey of coming together for a common purpose. While Tarini and Mithila have sporting backgrounds, Devika takes us through her experience of entering this sphere.

We also go through the challenges of Indian women’s football, the takes of our guests and much more!

#indianfootball #womeninsports by @tarini.kumar.s

While the debate around Indian football has largely centred on why the men continue to miss out, the women have quietly built a far more promising pathway. For the first time in nearly two decades, India’s senior, U-20 and U-17 women’s teams have all qualified for the AFC Asian Cup through qualifiers. Yet, as the team has begun to find its footing, the ecosystem has become increasingly unstable.

✍️ AAKASH SIVASUBRAMANIAN

Tap the link in bio to read more.

#DTNext #Football #WomensFootball #FIFA by @tarini.kumar.s