Focus is on team, not individuals: Sunil Chhetri

KOLKATA: India's stalemate in the World Cup qualifier against Qatar last month was a massive high for Indian football. What makes the effort even more creditable is that it came without Sunil Chhetri.
For quite some time now, the national team has been over reliant on Chhetri. The talismanic forward remains one of the key players, even though he insists that times have changed.
"It was because of my absence they played so well.That is what the players keep reminding me," Chhetri quipped with a smile on Monday, eve of their World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh.

"This is one of the features in the team now. The focus is on the team, and not the players. If the coach (Igor Stimac) sees someone doing well in training, he will play him. That is why we did so well against Qatar. That match will prove to you that the Indian team doesn't need only Sunil Chhetri to put up a good performance. I'm just one of the 23 players and I'll try my best to be as good as I can be. I'm little more experienced and that is only difference with others. There is no dependency on me. If Bangladesh mark me, there will be others to break away.
"You can think of any starting XI right now and you might be in for a surprise tomorrow. He keeps on our toes every day. There is great competition in the team and everyone works really hard."
Every time Chhetri gets on the pitch, the expectation is he will score. It will be no different on Tuesday. "I don't mind who scores, we just need three points," he said.