Sunil Chhetri says he will be very happy if India are at 100 in the FIFA Rankings in three years' time

Whilst AIFF President Praful Patel has a vision of breaking into the Top 50 in the coming days, Indian skipper and talisman Sunil Chhetri has a more practical view.

Speaking to the media at the AIFF Annual Awards held at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai, Chhetri quipped, “If in three years, India are still at 100. I will be very happy.”

And while that might seem a bit too pragmatic for some, it’s a vision that is quite that oozes sensibility and having a good understanding of where the Indian team currently stands in terms of world football.

The phenomenal rise

The Indian football has seen a real upturn in fortunes in recent years – having 12 of the last 14 games and seven on the trot after their 2-0 triumph over Nepal earlier this week.The exponential rise in terms of the FIFA rankings has seen the Blue Tigers rise from a lowly 173 a couple of years back to breaking into the Top 100 last month.

The progress and the good vibe emanating from the Indian dressing room has been like a breath of fresh air for the Indian football fans. And whilst the players themselves have earned a lot of praise for the upswing in India’s fortunes, it’s something that the players don’t really look at but it’s a yardstick that does effect the team from time to time.

“Personally and also speaking about the team I can say that this is something that really gives us happiness when we see ourselves having reached the top 100 but we don’t take it very very seriously.

“But yes, when we were 170, I spoke out loud in the dressing room that we are not a team that should be in the 170s. The way ranking works are that if we do well, so does the rankings. So we don't always take these things too seriously. The more important thing for us is to keep winning games, especially in big tournaments.

“We beat Myanmar away and that was a very very important game. Beating Puerto Rico at home was important. Winning the SAFF Cup and we just want to keep building on it.

“We can’t just sit back and think, ‘wow! we have achieved a lot’. We are happy and we are satisfied. We need to keep our heads down and keep working hard.”

Enough rest in the coming calendar

The AIFF had come under a lot of fire in recent months when Sunil Chhetri and then Udanta Singh succumbed to injury leaving the national team at its most vulnerable state for its AFC Asia Cup qualifier against. However, the Indian skipper doesn't want to keep on thinking about the past and feels that “the hard part is already done” and there is enough room in the upcoming calendar to worry about fixture congestion.

“I think that the hard part is done. We are playing on the 13^th against Kyrgyzstan and then the international friendlies and Asia Cup matches are going to start from October so we have enough time to rest now. Bengaluru are then going

Whilst, Chhetri has thankfully has recovered for the next game, Udanta and CK Vineeth won’t be available for selection against Kyrgyzstan.