"ISL has helped massively in grooming the players who are already playing for the national team" - Sunil Chhetri

Indian men's football team and Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri heaped praise on the ISL for grooming several Indian players who are already representing the Blue Tigers.

Speaking to the league's official website via FSDL, the 39-year-old stated,

"ISL has helped in a massive way, and more importantly it’s the grooming of the players who are already playing for the national team. Because, Indian Super League is the premier tournament of the country, all the top players representing India play in the ISL. When the league, foreign influx is better, when each and every club improves individually, brings better technology, coaches, players, and all our prospects train with them, they become well and the ISL helps a lot that way"

Chhetri cited the example of Sandesh Jhingan, who went on to play for India, having impressed with his defensive prowess during the inaugural edition, where he was adjudged Emerging Player of the Season. The centre-back, who was just 21 then, has established himself as one of the vital cogs in the Indian Football Team ever since making his debut against Nepal in March 2015.

"When a young Sandesh Jhingan was training day in, day out, playing the top strikers like Miku, Ogbeche, (Ferran) Corominas, marking them, really helped them improve their game. When you train and play with better players, you become well, and for me that’s the biggest contribution of the ISL to the Indian national team"

"Winning the ISL was magical" - Sunil Chhetri

Sunil Chhetri began his Indian Super League journey with Mumbai City FC in the second season. He holds the record of scoring the first-ever hat trick by an Indian in the league, apart from being the only Indian player to score two hat tricks.

On some of his most memorable moments in the league, Chhetri ranked winning the 2018-19 title with Bengaluru FC as the most magical moment.

He said,

"One would be winning the Indian Super League, because that was magical. Rahul Bheke, who is wearing the Mumbai City FC jersey now, scored the winner for us, and that, I will never forget. For completely different reasons, the other one would be losing the final at home against Chennaiyin FC. You can pardon me for being selfish, but the third would be my first hat-trick. When I scored my first hat-trick, I was playing for Mumbai City FC. I reckon that was the first hat-trick ever by an Indian"

The talisman, who made his 150th Indian Super League appearance in Bengaluru FC's 2-0 victory over Hyderabad FC at home on Saturday, February 24, continues to dominate the scoring charts at both club and International levels. With 93 goals for India, he is the nation's top goal-scorer, and with 60 strikes to his name so far, he is at the top of the list of Indian goal-scorers in the ISL as well.