"If a Chinese kid is learning gymnastics at....": Sunil Chhetri reveals key to India becoming a "sporting nation"

Speaking to ANI in an exclusive interview, Chhetri said that India as a nation and as a football power, is improving at a "very good pace". "But they are still finding it hard to make a huge mark in the world football because the other top Asian nations they are competing with are also growing in a rapid manner," he said.

"We as a nation And football team are improving And in a very good pace. But because we are competing against the top teams in Asia, forget the world right now, the top teams in Asia are also improving In a very fast manner, that is why the race is so hard. But only, Not only football, But in all sports, Because Let us face it, We are not a sporting nation. And I wish we we become one. I am not sure that this is the most important thing that we have to change in the country. But because I am biased towards sports, I hope we do this," he said.

The 40-year-old football icon expressed confidence that India can become a force to reckon with in the world of sports.

"I am not sure about China (how they pick up talents and groom them). But what I have heard and read is, because they have the power of picking up anyone from anywhere. In India, it is different. So the government should help, the corporate should help. Right to the last fundamental part of the piece is the parents, they should help. Genuinely, we all have to come together to become a sporting nation. It cannot happen that the government one day gets up and thinks, 'Now in the next 10 years, we are going to be a sporting nation."

"If the corporates and the parents and the coaches are not ready. If we want to sit and be like "choddo yaar (leave it), what would the government do? Small example, the government said, do not break the red light. Don't we break it? The government said, do not spit. Don't we spit. So it has to come collectively. Government wants it. Corporates want it. The clubs want it. Players want it. Coaches want it. Parents want it. The kids want it. Then you see the difference," he said.

Chhetri also highlighted the need to identify the right talent at the right age to compete with the likes of USA and China in sports.

"What is good for you does not matter if you want to win medals. What matters is you are competing. So if China, America, Germany, Canada, Australia, all of them who do well in sports, are identifying and nurturing the talent at a specific age, you cannot wait. If a Chinese kid is learning gymnastics at 6 and you want to teach your kid at 13 and expect both of them are going to have the same chance, it is not fair."

"So I think the first requisite is identify the talent at the right age because we are 1.5 billion people. We have the benefit of a bigger pool to choose from. And it is not going to be easy to govern a country like this. It is not easy to take out talent from the whole nation. But if you are ready to do that and once we achieve that, identifying and giving the kid, her or him, the right infrastructure, coaching and knowledge, half of the battle is won. We already triumphed. Then you will see such an exponential jump. And then when they grow up and become 17-18 we can send them to specific places where the level and the coaching is better than ours," he added.

Chhetri kicked off his professional football journey at Mohun Bagan in 2002. Chhetri helped India win the 2007, 2009, and 2012 Nehru Cup, as well as the 2011, 2015, 2021 and 2023 SAFF Championship. He also led India to victory in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, which helped India qualify for its first AFC Asian Cup in 27 years.

Chhetri received the Arjuna Award in 2011, and the Padma Shri in 2019. In 2021, he became the first footballer to get the Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour.

In a career that spanned over 19 years, the Arjuna Award winner has 94 goals in 150 matches on the international stage. Interestingly, Indian football talisman Sunil Chhetri is fourth overall in the all-time international goal scorers' list. Chhetri played a major role in India's footballing fortunes in the last decade, earning legendary status in the nation's sporting history. (ANI)