Captain Fantastic ! - can you identify !?!?

For sure you know ‘Captain Cool’ -  know who ‘Captain Fantastic’ is – fortunately could take a couple of snaps of him at Chennai airport recently !

 

Vasudevan Bhaskaran, Dhanraj Pillai, PT Usha, MD Valsamma  Prakash Padukone, Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Kapil Dev, Krish Srikkanth, MS Dhoni, Vishwanathan Anand, Geet Sethi, Baichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan,  Maria Irudhayam, Anup Kumar, Manjit Chillar, Pardeep Narwal  ~ certainly not an exhaustive list but to those of us following Indian Sports since mid 1970s  – some great names that whipped National sentiments in Sports ! -  for sure “Sunil Chhetri” is right there in the middle. 

Just in case you wonder, - Sunil – who ? – he has been the face of Indian football for quite sometime now with a reputation as one the most illustrious footballers of India.  In fact, Chhetri’s amazing story has been recognized by Federation Internationale de Football Association or FIFA’s new documentary called ‘Captain Fantastic’, which is available for streaming on FIFA+.

 

Indian Super League (ISL) is the men's highest level of the Indian football league system, akin to Cricket cousin Indian Premier League. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the league currently comprises 12 clubs. The season runs from September to March and at the end of the regular season, the team with the most points is declared the premiers and presented with the League Winners' Shield. 

One of its competitor is - Bengaluru Football Club   established in  2013. Since its inception, the club has won two I-League titles including one in its debut season, two Federation Cup titles, one Indian Super League title, and a Super Cup championship making it fourth-most successful club in Indian football. The club is owned and operated by the Mumbai-based company JSW Group and its managing director Sajjan Jindal.

 

It is presently captained by the National Captain Sunil Chhetri.  Chhetri's first international tournament was the 2007 Nehru Cup. In the opening game, India defeated Cambodia 6–0 with Chhetri scoring two goals.  

Sunil Chhetri (1984) plays as a forward and captains both Indian Super League club Bengaluru FC and the India national team. He is known for his link-up play, goal scoring abilities, and leadership. He is the third-highest international goalscorer among active players, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi,  fourth overall, and is also the most-capped player and the all-time top goal-scorer of the India national team.   

Chhetri began his professional career at Mohun Bagan in 2002,  moving to JCT where he scored 21 goals in 48 games. Chhetri helped India win the 2007, 2009, and 2012 Nehru Cup, as well as the 2011, 2015, 2021 and 2023 SAFF Championship. He also led India to victory in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, which qualified them to their first AFC Asian Cup in 27 years, scoring twice in the final tournament in 2011.  In 2016 Chethri led Bengaluru FC to a silver medal finish in the AFC Cup. Chhetri has also been named AIFF Player of the Year a record seven times in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018–19 and 2021–22. 

Chhetri received the Arjuna Award in 2011 for his outstanding sporting achievement, the Padma Shri award in 2019, India's fourth highest civilian award. In 2021, he received the Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honor and became the first footballer to receive the award. 

Way back in Mar 2004, Chhetri played his first game for the India U-20 football team in the 1–0 victory over Pakistan U-23 team in the 2004 South Asian Games in Pakistan and an year later  Sunil scored his first goal on his debut for the senior India national football team against Pakistan. 

Sunil Chhetri’s father KB Chhetri, was an officer in the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers of the Indian Army,  played football for the Indian Army football team while his mother and her twin sister played for the Nepal women's national team. Chhetri speaks five languages fluently: English, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi and Bengali.  

On that day I travelled in the same flight with  Bengaluru FC Team and here is a close up photo of Josh Snowden, their Strength and conditioning coach as well.   

 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
16.12.2023