Sportskeeda's Top 10 Indian sportsmen of the year 2017

#3 Sunil Chhetri (Football)

Chhetri recorded a fine year for club and country

For the Indian national football team skipper, it was a memorable 2017 on both the professional as well as personal front. While his marriage to long-time girlfriend Sonam Bhattacharya grabbed the headlines towards the end of the year, his exploits on the pitch in the previous months were quite special!

In the 2016-17 I-League campaign, Bengaluru FC had a disappointing outing, finishing in fourth place where Chhetri was the team's top scorer for the fourth season running. The Blues though, had a fine run in the Federation Cup, where they defeated Mohun Bagan 2-0 in the final in May, this securing a place in next season's AFC Cup.

On the continental circuit, Chhetri's side had an impressive showing as well, as Bengaluru reached the Inter-Zone playoff final, going down 3-2 to Tajikistan-based club FC Istiklol over two hard-fought legs.

For the national team, Chhetri was the talisman and led from the front as the Indian team went the year unbeaten, broke into the Top 100 of the FIFA ranking and ensured a spot in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Chhetri scored a goal in a friendly against Cambodia and in four different qualifier games, three of which were decisive in securing wins.

With the ISL season underway, the 33-year-old is the joint-top scorer for BFC so far and will look to take his team to the title in their debut season. One hopes 2018 is an even more successful year for Chhetri!