Sunil Chhetri vs Baichung Bhutia: Comparing the Torchbearers of Indian Football

#4 Influence on the team

Baichung Bhutia made Indians stand up and take notice

Baichung Bhutia has been the first Indian footballer that influenced the youth of the country. His stints at foreign clubs were envied by many and other young footballers got the belief that they too can do it.

Not only has Sunil Chhetri carried on the torch that Baichung lit up in the Indian football, but he has taken Indian football to greater heights than ever before.

His fan-following and the support among the fans is second to none as was evident from his appeal to the fans to turn up for the intercontinental cup matches.

One can say that Sunil Chhetri is better than Baichung Bhutia in terms of stats, but that's more like saying Virat Kohli is better than Sachin Tendulkar.

While its impossible to compare 2 players from different decades and say who was better, it is important to understand their contributions to Indian football and acknowledge that both of them were legends.