Chhetri, self-effacing as ever, prefers to focus on the collective

Sportspersons are great lovers of symmetry. They crave records that give a sense of completeness and have rhythmic allure — like Novak Djokovic winning all three Majors at least thrice and Usain Bolt‘s ‘three-peat’ of the 100m and 200m Olympic golds. Sunil Chhetri’s hat-trick in the 4-0 victory over Pakistan in the SAFF Championship opener may well bring the India skipper a similar feeling. It was against the same opponent that a 21-year-old Chhetri scored his debut international goal way back in 2005.

Sportspersons are great lovers of symmetry. They crave records that give a sense of completeness and have rhythmic allure — like Novak Djokovic winning all three Majors at least thrice and Usain Bolt‘s ‘three-peat’ of the 100m and 200m Olympic golds.

Sunil Chhetri’s hat-trick in the 4-0 victory over Pakistan in the SAFF Championship opener may well bring the India skipper a similar feeling. It was against the same opponent that a 21-year-old Chhetri scored his debut international goal way back in 2005.

Nearly two decades down the line, he was still haunting Pakistan, scoring his fourth career international hat-trick to move up to 90 goals, the fourth-highest tally in the all-time list behind Cristiano Ronaldo (123), Iran’s Ali Daei (109) and Lionel Messi (103).

But in his typically understated manner, Chhetri downplayed the personal milestone and sought to focus on the collective.

“We will speak about that once I am done one day,” the 38-year-old said. “I am happy, [but] more happy and satisfied because we kept a clean sheet. It was the first target the team had set for itself.

“In tournaments, numbers will matter. At 2-0, that was the meeting we had inside [the dressing room]. When you have the opportunity, and you are dominant, you make it count. Thankfully we did that.