Sunil Chhetri: The footballer born in the land of cricket
Ashwin Jangam
June 7, 2024
It's often said that hardwork yields you success. But that isn't necessarily true every single time. Hardwork also requires some amount of luck to fetch the desired results. Right place, right effort and right time cumulatively make a success story. If any one of the above doesn't work, the person might not land up to the level he deserves. There are numerous examples of the same happening in sports. And out of all the names one can think this applies to, the name of Sunil Chhetri stands the tallest.
It's quite astonishing to know that a player struggles to be recognised and respected in spite of being the best player in his nation for the most popular sport worldwide. Because footballers enjoy the fame, respect and wealth in the most pleasant way which no other players playing any other sport can ever do. But not the case if your are Sunil Chhetri from India. One of the best footballers of all time, Chhetri has never being respected to the level he deserves in spite of being born in a country of a billion people.
It's because he is born in a nation of cricket. The game of cricket has engulfed the minds of a billion fans to the extent, that they hardly care about any other sport. The situation of the nation obsessed with men's cricket is so bad that they've also failed to recognize women's cricket. No one even bothered to watch the women's game when the best batter and best bowler in women's cricket in the form of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami played for India together for 2 decades. When the nation fails to identify people from same sport which they love, it is almost next to impossible to see them respect football players.
And exactly amidst all this, Chhetri's marvellous career got overshadowed and he remained undervalued. A career spanning for around 2 decades saw the teen sensation turn into one of the finest footballers of all time. The 4th highest goal scorer of all time, he is one of the major reasons why the Europeans at least know a little about Indian football. He brought the global attention to Indian football as he went on to break and create a flurry of records in Asian and world football. He took Indian team to a different level altogether.
It was pretty obvious that his achievements were the reason due to which Indian football was noticed and taken little seriously by westerners. In his honour, FIFA also released a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Sunil Chhetri standing on the same podium. He brought glory to tha nation. But unfortunately the same nation failed to respect and honour him, as one saw the man plead the fans to come and watch their team play in the stadium. The sad state of football in India was pretty evident after seeing the man honoured by FIFA, folding his hands and requesting his countrymen to support him.
It was ironic of the Indian fans, who watched late night matches to watch Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar when their own match winner was deprived the respect and credit which he deserved. The Indian mentality of considering others to be superior to us cost Chhetri even more. The Indians fans of Barcelona, Real Madrid turned their back when the Blue Tigers took the field. And similar was the situation of even the most prominent names in India. Which is why one saw a politician humiliate Chhetri after winning the Durrand Trophy.
All his life he tried to do the best, but couldn't still help the team's and nation's case. Because football is eventually a team game, which is why he alone couldn't do much. He still gave it all for the team, but 1 match winner doens't win the team matches when the others don't match up to the level where they are playing. And exactly due to the same, he remained deprived and couldn't watch the team excel. He also had to give up on his dream of playing the FIFA World Cup before retiring.
Which is why one saw him in tears as he bid adieu to the game forever. The disappointment was visible in his eyes, as the person who hardly expressed emotions, couldn't control his tears for his fateful career. And it was extremely sad to see. Even though the man doesn't have the most prestigious titles of football, he will still be forever remembered as a champion. He is the champion who took Indian team to newer heights, and opened newer horizons for the nation. And if everyone had hopes of accession of Indian football, it was because of him. And there exactly lies his success. He will always be remembered by every Indian as the football player to rule the hearts of cricket crazy Indian fans. And he can always held his head high for the same. On the occasion of him retiring, we congratulate him for a successful career and wish him good luck for his second innings.