Sunil Chhetri.
Does the name ring a bell? Think a bit harder. Can you guess who am I referring to? Here are a few more. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sandesh Jhingan, Udanta Singh… Think you recognize any one? Let us try this with another set of names. Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, David de Gea, Harry Kane, Mo Salah, Paul Pogba… Sound familiar. Don’t they?
The 2018 FIFA World Cup is under ten days away now. Football fans around the country are undoubtedly ready with flags and t-shirts of their favorite teams and big name players playing at the tournament. In all probability they have already marked out ‘their’ team’s fixtures on the calendar and made plans to watch the knockout stages of the tournament at the most happening sports bar of the city. Even the television broadcaster is asking the Indian football fans, “Which is your Doosri country?”
I have a different question for us though. Do we support our Pehli country enough? Sunil Chhetri, for all of you still wondering, is the current skipper of the Indian national football team. Incidentally, he is also the most capped player and the record goal scorer for India. He just put on the Indian jersey for the 100th time yesterday. One Hundred Appearances. Let that sink in…
For the statistically inclined, Chhetri has scored 61 goals in 100 appearances – a goals per game ratio better than both Ronaldo and Messi. Jeje, Gurpreet and the others are also an integral part of the national team participating in the ongoing Intercontinental Cup which is being hosted by India itself. Isn’t it a bit disturbing that a man of Chhetri’s stature on the Indian football scene is not a household name yet? What does it say about us when we cannot even name the players of our team, let alone know the position they play in? Isn’t it embarrassing that the skipper himself has to come out and plead with us to watch them play? This is exactly what Sunil Chhetri has had to do. Here is a link to his appeal: Sunil Chhetri appeal
Can you imagine Sachin Tendulkar having to beg us to come and watch cricket at the stadium? Even at the lowest points of the game – the match fixing scandal at the turn of the millennium or the 2007 world cup debacle, the crowds never thinned whenever India was playing. Contrast this with Sunil Chhetri’s message. He is imploring us all, and is ready to take in the criticism and abuse too, provided we just turn up in numbers at the tournament venues. How lonely, how unsupportive have we made him feel?
Agreed that Indian football is not up to world standard – a fact that he too acknowledges. We are currently ranked a lowly 97th in the world. The road to the top of the table is a distant, utopian dream at the moment. The ‘beautiful game’ doesn’t seem all that beautiful when our team is on the pitch. Obviously, Chhetri and co are miles off the quality of the World’s Elite. Is that reason enough to abandon them? Leave them to fend for themselves with empty seats to show when asked about a fan base? We all know that a supportive crowd plays the role of an extra player by lifting the spirits of those on the field. Do any of us want to be that Twelfth Man for the Indian football team?
What is the state of football in the country today?, you ask. Well, I can say that its popularity is definitely on the rise. There is a huge fan following for almost every major European club in the country. Be it Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus or Arsenal. Television ratings show that the PL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and the UEFA Champion’s League have a strong viewership base in India. Even with the match timings stretching late into the night, fans have not left ‘their’ team unattended. Then why the estranged feelings when it comes to supporting one of our own?
On the domestic scene, city based franchises have come up as a part of the Indian Super League. Involvement of cricket stars and celebrities as owners and brand ambassadors of ISL teams have upped the ante. Be it Sachin Tendulkar with the Kerala Blasters, Virat Kohli with FC Goa, Abhishek Bachchan and MS Dhoni with Chennaiyin FC or John Abraham with NorthEast United. Cricket stars and Bollywood have done their bit in having a stake and promoting Indian football. With their support, a dedicated sports broadcaster and match timings suitable to the Indian public, the game has managed to crawl out of its traditional pockets of Goa and Kolkata and reach out to a wider audience. Now, it is up to us as fans to support our players. Whether we build our loyalty from the city franchise up to the national team or follow a particular national player`s fortunes in the domestic competition is besides the point.
The skipper has urged the public to show them some much-needed support. Do we, as a nation, have the will to support our own team? Are we ready to throng to a stadium where the Blue Tigers turn up to play? Is the ‘INDIAAAA…. INDIA…’ chant reserved for a game of cricket alone or will it reverberate around a football pitch too? It is time we came up with the answers to these questions, and I hope, they are the right ones.
Tarkash 