Sunil Chhetri at ‘peace’ over his India retirement call
Sunil Chhetri’s phone has been buzzing non-stop for the last two days. “688 missed calls,” he says, prompting him to turn his device off. The Indian skipper has received much-deserved adulation over the last 24 hours since announcing that he will bring an end to his 19-year-long career.
His last game in India colours will be on June 6, still 20 days away. But he is keen for the focus to shift away from him and on to the crucial World Cup qualifier game against Kuwait at the Salt Lake Stadium. The Indian record goal-scorer spoke to the media virtually for over an hour to address the retirement, his emotions surrounding the final hurrah, his potential successor, his best moments in an India shirt and more.
There have been several highs from his 150 international caps, 94 goals and countless moments of joy but along the way, he has seen the lowest of lows, too. “Missing out on the Asian Cup qualification in 2015 still haunts me,” he recalls. “It was a dismal performance from me and the team against Myanmar. Even now when I talk about it, I feel a bit of anger on myself and all the players who played that game.”
As for his highs, he hopes his 151 st cap, his final bow against Kuwait, will hopefully top everything he has done in his career. A victory in front of a packed and vociferous home crowd at the Salt Lake will give India the best chance of qualifying for the third round of the qualifiers – a first of a kind for the Blue Tigers.
The 39-year-old feels he is at ‘peace’ with the decision after going through it over in his head post the disappointing results against Afghanistan in March. ‘Telling myself that decision [of retirement] was the hardest part.” he says, when he made the decision a month ago.
“I was fighting within me. I was analysing stuff. I was trying to think more holistically,” he says, about the timing. “When the instinct came, it was so individual and so narrow, it was so selfish, if I can say that because I was only thinking about myself. But then I took my time and I was thinking about everything. It wasn’t easy and took some time. Now, I can say that I am at peace. I think I made the right decision.”
There is also the matter of the game away at Qatar five days later, but Chhetri’s clarity over his final game meant the head coach Igor Stimac didn’t try convincing him otherwise.
“No [about the possibility of playing in Qatar], because when I went to him, he understood. He gives me and the players a lot of freedom to express ourselves. He knows how badly I want to play for my country. When he rightly subs me off at 70 minutes, when he can see better, he knows I am not happy. When he wants me to rest because of my age, and I don’t like it, he knows how badly I want to play. So, he understood when I said this would be my last game. Also, he was a player, so he understood. We had a very nice, short chat. He said let’s come together and make sure we win the game for the country on the sixth,” said Chhetri.