Sunil Chhetri pays gratitude to the sport and his team. Ahead of the national team’s crucial World Cup qualifier home match against Kuwait on 6th June at the Salt Lake Stadium, the Indian skipper wrote on his social media account, ‘These last few days, I’ve been caught in a bit of a dilemma. Now that there’s a number to my days with the National Team, what’s the right route to take – do I count every day, every training session? Or do I simply turn up without the thought of how this is coming to an end?’

‘Over time, I seemed to have found a middle ground. They say, count your blessings. And every single day I get to be on the pitch is a blessing that I've never taken for granted," he wrote. "So I've decided to count my sessions, but with a deep sense of gratitude. There's no apprehension. Instead, there's a feeling of being indebted to the sport, to my team, that I get to do this. If I could, I would capture this feeling in a box. Or instead, I’ll take it to my next training session.’

However, the Blue Tigers landed in Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon amidst the fanfare and enthusiasm. The IFA officials, enthusiastic fans, and members of the media, who greeted the Indian football team at the Netaji Subhash Chandra International Airport, would have had their sights on one man. That is Indian captain Sunil Chhetri. The 39-year-old striker, who has scored 94 goals from 150 international appearances, will play his last match for the senior national team.