World Cup Qualifier: Skipper Sunil Chhetri signs off in style, gives one last message to media
Over the last 19 years, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with so many of you, on more than a few occasions.
The emotional plea of Indian football captain Sunil Chettri has hit the conscience of the countrymen, it seems. As Chhetri plays his career’s 100th match against Kenya in the Hero Intercontinental Cup on Monday, he will be welcomed by a jam-packed stadium going by the tickets sold for the match.
Chhetri on Saturday scored a hat-trick and guided India to the 5-0 victory over Chinese Taipei in the opening match of the tournament. Chhetri’s then posted a 2.20-minute video on Twitter, asking countrymen to support football by watching the matches live in the stadium.
Chhetri’s statement seems to have shaken the country as the ticket for the Monday’s match against Kenya are sold out. A Youtuber named Nikunj Lotia (Beyounick) has booked an entire stand for the India-Kenya match making it easy for football fans to witness history in making live.
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On Saturday night, Chhetri took to the micro-blogging site, Twitter and posted a video requesting the countrymen to support football and come to the stadium to watch them play.
Here’s the video:
This is nothing but a small plea from me to you. Take out a little time and give me a listen. pic.twitter.com/fcOA3qPH8i
— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) June 2, 2018
Be it Indian cricket skipper Virat Kohli or ace tennis player Sania Mirza, everyone came forward and urged the fans to listen to Chhetri’s plea and go watch the veteran play his 100th international game.
In the video, Chhetri was quoted as saying, “I mean it’s not fun to criticise and abuse on the internet. Come to the stadium, do it on our face, scream at us, shout at us, abuse us, who knows one day we might change you guys, you might start cheering for us.”
Moments after Chhetri posted the video, it went viral on social media and almost every media house carried the video. Following Chhetri’s post, the debate that why cricket is the only dominant sport in the nation started once again.
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