Sunil Chhetri – Captain, Leader, Legend

Sunil Chhetri announces his retirement

It spoke volumes of football’s place on the margins of Indian society that Sunil Chhetri became better known after a social media video where he, literally, invited abuse. Six years on, if Indian football is in a better place, much of the credit has to go to the leadership and goals that he continued to provide as he approached his 40th birthday.

That video went viral on the eve of Chhetri’s 100th cap against Kenya in Mumbai in June 2018. “To all of you, who have lost hope or don’t have any hope in Indian football, we request you to come and watch us in the stadium,” he said, with the air of someone seeking alms. “I mean, it’s not fun to criticise and abuse on the Internet. Come to the stadium, do it on our face, scream at us, shout at us, abuse us. Who knows, one day we might change you guys, you might start cheering for us.”

By then, Chhetri had already scored 59 international goals. Among active players, only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – who inhabit another football plane – had scored more. With Chhetri announcing that the World Cup qualifier against Kuwait on June 6 would be his last, he will sadly not join that duo and Iran’s Ali Daei in finding the net over 100 times for his country. He currently has 94 goals from 150 appearances.

Virat Kohli, India’s most popular sportsperson by a distance, led the tributes to Chhetri by replying to his Instagram post with the words: “My Brother, PROUD.” It’s no exaggeration to say that Chhetri was second only to Kohli when it came to the affection he received from Bengaluru’s sports lovers. Half a decade ago, when Bengaluru FC were the best team in the Indian Super League (ISL), it wasn’t uncommon for more than 10,000 fans to flock to every home game. Most of the West Block Blues would be wearing Chhetri-11 shirts, and ‘Captain, Leader, Legend’ banners and chants were part of every match.

After that 100th cap, which helped shine a light on the way football had been neglected for decades, Chhetri was instrumental in the national team’s best result of the 21st century – a 4-1 thrashing of Thailand in Abu Dhabi in the 2019 Asian Cup. But for a late, late penalty scored by Bahrain, India would have made the second round of that tournament.

Under Igor Stimac, results have waxed and waned, but the very fact that India went into another Asian Cup this January with great expectations was a reminder of how Chhetri had helped changed the narrative. His love for the game and impeccable work ethic will be greatly missed, but the time is right for others to carry forward the torch he lit.