What’s the story?
The Indian football team recently defeated Myanmar courtesy of a lone goal by Sunil Chhetri which is set to propel them to their highest world ranking in 18 years. With that comes another good news for the Indian captain, as sources close to EA revealed to Sportskeeda that Sunil Chhetri is likely to become the first ever Indian to cross the 70 rating barrier in the FIFA series.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, the source told Sportskeeda, "In all likelihood, Sunil Chhetri will be given a rating of 73, I'm not sure whether that is the highest for an India, but as long back as I can remember its up there as the best.”
In case you didn’t know…
Team India has been a regular on the FIFA series since the release of FIFA 13 when EA realised the massive audience the game had in the country. The highest rated player in India’s FIFA debut was goalkeeper Subrata Paul, rated at 65 with a potential rating of 69 in FIFA 13.
An Indian footballer has never crossed an overall rating of 70 in the history of the FIFA series with Sunil Chhetri’s rating of 67 in FIFA 17 being the highest ever by an Indian.
The heart of the matter
After undertaking some research, we realised that this would indeed be the best rating ever achieved by an Indian in the game. In fact, this will also make the Indian skipper the first Indian footballer ever to cross the 70 rating point barrier on the game.
Also Read: Top 5 Indian/Indian-origin players on FIFA 17
What’s next?
Although some Indian players do possess potential ratings of 70, which makes it possible to cross the barrier through gameplay, this will be the first time an Indian has a base rating of over 70 overall points which in a way signals the slow but steady progress of Indian football.
Author’s Take
Aged 33, Sunil Chhetri might be in the latter stages of his career, but that has in no way diminished his standing for club and country. Captain of India and his I-League side Bengaluru FC, Chhetri has been instrumental in Bengaluru’s run to the AFC Cup final last season and Team India’ recent seven-game winning streak.
Also Read: Sunil Chhetri hints towards potential international retirement in 2019
