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The ever-reliant Sunil Chhetri lit up the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bengaluru, on Wednesday, June 21, when he tucked home a clinical hattrick for the Indian national team against Pakistan in their opening encounter of the 2023 SAFF Championship.
The skipper, at first, capitalized on a horrendous error from the visiting goalkeeper Saqib Hanif when the latter failed to clear a regulation back pass. Chhetri was alert and managed to pounce on the loose ball to give India the lead in the 10th minute itself.
Six minutes later, the referee pointed to the spot when a Pakistani defender handled the ball inside his own box. The 38-year-old marksmen stepped up to take the penalty and sent it into the bottom right corner with great panache to double the lead.
Once ahead, the Blue Tigers navigated through the half expertly without letting the Shaheens back into the game. Sunil Chhetri's third strike came after the break, in the 71st minute, when he set off on an explosive run before being pushed inside the box by Muhammad Sufyan. The veteran striker finally concluded his hattrick with another of his calm and composed strikes from the spot.
However, the hosts had Chhetri to credit for his two inch-perfect strikes that handed them the lead.
Fans too were elated by the performance of the skipper and took to social media to laud the Bengaluru FC man. The Indian fans humorously drew parallels between Chhetri and Indian star cricketer Virat Kohli, who previously delivered some memorable performances against Pakistan.
Here are some of the reactions:
Sunil Chhetri reaches 90-goal mark in international football with hattrick against Pakistan
In the Intercontinental Cup 2023 final, Sunil Chhetri scored just after the break to push his goalscoring tally to 87. Few would've thought he would enter the 90s within just a single game. But tonight he was that clinical and whenever the opportunity arrived the tucked those away.
Chhetri also became only the fourth Indian footballer to score a hat-trick against Pakistan. The previous three include Puran Bahadur Thapa, IM Vijayan, and Jeje Lalpekhlua.
