A limping Lalengmawia ‘Apuia’ Ralte returned to Mohun Bagan Super Giant from India duty on Wednesday.

Apuia, as he is called in football circles, was in distress as he boarded the bus from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport tarmac to the terminal.

The 24-year-old picked up the injury during India’s AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers final round clash against Bangladesh in Shillong on Tuesday. He, however, completed the Group C match that ended goalless.

From the Calcutta airport, Apuia went straight to the Salt Lake Stadium training ground where Bagan were preparing for their two-legged ISL-XI semi-final clash. The medical team assessed his injury — in the left ankle region — and a clearer picture will emerge on Thursday.

Bagan winger Manvir Singh was released from the India camp before last week’s international friendly against the Maldives due to injury.

If Apuia misses the ISL-XI semi-final clash — Bagan’s opponents will be the winners of Sunday’s knockout 2 clash between NorthEast United FC and Jamshedpur FC in Shillong — it will be a big blow to coach Jose Molina’s plan. Apuia, who joined Bagan from Mumbai City last summer, has been one of the standout players this season.

Apuia’s injury, however, is not as bad as Ashique Kuruniyan’s, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury during India’s King’s Cup match against Iraq in September 2023, which sidelined him for the remainder of the ISL-X season.

Kuruniyan has hardly managed any game time — 366 minutes — in the ongoing league. Despite that, India coach Manolo Marquez called him for India duty. He argued that the attacking medio can make an impact even if he is on the field for a few minutes. On Tuesday, he replaced clubmate Subhasish Bose in the 85th.

After Tuesday’s no-show — by Manolo’s admission, India were lucky not to concede goals — questions are being raised on the players he selected.

The decision to ignore Anirudh Thapa of Bagan and PV Vishnu, one of East Bengal’s stars in an otherwise wretched ISL-XI campaign, raised a few eyebrows.

Thapa, who plays as No. 8, did not get much game time — 755 minutes — in the Bagan shirt in ISL-XI, but his presence could have given India some creativity during attacks. Thapa, 27, got injured in January and took time to recover.

Vishnu, a skilful and cerebral winger, also could have proved a difficult customer for the visitors. Instead, Manolo decided to call up Macarton Louis Nickson of NorthEast United FC and Udanta Singh of FC Goa after Manvir and Brandon Fernandes were injured. The Spaniard is also the head coach of FC Goa.

“Udanta was one of the players who tried more during the game. Sometimes without luck, but he played a good game,” Manolo said at the post-match news conference on Tuesday.

“Vishnu’s exclusion defies logic, but I think coach was right in excluding Thapa,” a former national team player told The Telegraph.

“It’s the coach’s call, even though some names he chose were surprising. Hopefully, he (Manolo) will show faith in Vishnu when India play Hong Kong on June 10,” he added.

India goalkeeper Vishal Kaith made blunders in the initial stages of the match, which could have proved costly. His gaffes remained one of the talking points of the game.

Axed keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu posted a picture of himself on social media with the caption, “There is a difference!” The cryptic message was later deleted.