Unanswered question: Sunil Chhetri will leave a big void in the striker’s role for the national team

This article originally appeared in The Field’s newsletter, Game Points, on May 22, 2024. Sign up here to get the newsletter directly delivered to your inbox every week.

For over a decade, one question has pestered Indian football: “Who, after Sunil Chhetri?”

Chhetri is one of the most influential players the country has produced. But now, aged 39, he is set to call time on a 19-year international career. He will play his last game for India against Kuwait in the Fifa World Cup qualifier on June 6.

Filling Chhetri’s shoes will be a tough task for the current and next generation of players.

Of course, there are players in the team well capable of inheriting his captain’s armband – one that he has proudly worn since 2011. The biggest void, however, that Chhetri leaves is in his striker’s position in the national team.

Since making his debut in 2005, Chhetri has made that forward position his own, and his spot in the team has never been challenged. Several strikers have come and gone, but none have managed to match the effectiveness, fervour, and guile with which Chhetri operated.

A look at the club level – what is supposed to be the breeding ground for the national team – does not paint a rosy...

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