Where the grass is greenest: Sunil Chhetri's pursuit

What’s next for Sunil Chhetri?

The poster boy of Indian football is back to the I-League after another short stint on foreign land, this time on loan from Sporting Lisbon B, at Churchill Brothers. In his time at Portugal, Sunil Chhetri played all of 10 minutes of competitive football spread over 3 matches. In his previous tryst with football in the west, Chhetri did not experience even a single minute of competitive football for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer. Inevitably, tongues have started wagging again.

Like most footballing stories, there are more than one ways of looking at Chhetri’s career pattern so far. The fact that the Indian captain did impress the representatives from the US and Portuguese clubs is an undeniable testament to his status as being the new torch-bearer of Indian football after Bhutia’s departure. However, critics will somewhat rightly claim that the national team captain should not be rotting on the bench for the good part of the season. It was evident in the friendly against Palestine that Chhetri was nowhere close to being fully fit, and that is sure to be a worrying sign for Wim Koevermans.

The reason behind Chhetri’s failure to break into the teams at the foreign clubs is a matter demanding serious thought. Was he at the wrong of the manager’s pecking order by virtue of hailing from such a low ranked footballing nation? Or did he find it hard to adapt to the style of play or the tactical scheme? Or could it be because he simply isn’t good enough for that level of football? These are questions that only the coaches at Sporting Lisbon and Sporting Kansas – or Chhetri himself – can answer. The more pertinent question playing on the minds of the Indian football faithful however will be – what’s next for the sniper from Delhi?

It seems highly unlikely for Chhetri to get a contract extension at Sporting Lisbon. What then should be his next move? Should he set his sights on football in the west again, or will it be wiser to aim for the east instead? Countries like Malaysia and Thailand, which have leagues more highly ranked than the I-League, could be realistic targets for Chhetri. There’s no doubt that spending time at bigger clubs – training with high-profile players under top-notch coaching staff – does wonders to a players’ technical abilities and tactical awareness. However, the way football is played around the world today, fitness sometimes trumps all else. And a players’ match fitness is dealt a severe blow if he has to watch his team-mates from the dug-out.

Few will dispute the fact that Chhetri is perhaps the craftiest and most technically-gifted player in the Indian footballing setup today. He has well and truly established himself as the face of Indian football after Baichung Bhutia. Bhutia himself spent 3 years in England with Bury FC amassing 37 appearances, before setting his sights on Malaysia in the latter years of his career. Perhaps Chhetri would be well advised to take a leaf out of Bhutia’s book. And in Malaysia or Thailand, Chhetri might even get more starts, thus building his game, as well as fitness, over the course of his stay.

Despite his failure to impress in Portugal, Chhetri seems to have lost none of his attacking instincts as he turned in a masterful display on his debut for Churchill with 2 goals to his name. Everything said and done, he continues to carry the hopes of his nation on his shoulders and the fans will be eagerly waiting to see where his ship sails next.