Team India batting star Virat Kohli was inevitably emotional as Sunil Chhetri announced his international retirement on Thursday, claiming that the World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait will be his final game. With Chhetri uploading a video on Instagram to announce his retirement, Kohli didn't hold back from commenting on the emotional video.
Chhetri has been one of the best players of the sport in India and has etched his name in the annals of the sport. The veteran player has 94 goals under his belt in 150 appearances and currently is ranked 4th in all-time list of international goal-scorers.
Kohli took to Instgaram and commented the below on Chhetri's video:
"My brother. PROUD."
Kohli and Chhetri notably had an Instagram live session in 2020 and represent Bengaluru-based sporting clubs in the Indian Super League (ISL) and Indian Premier League (IPL).
"I never thought individually, these are the many games that I’ve played for the country" - Sunil Chhetri
In the emotional video posted on Instagram, Chhetri revealed that he approached the last one and a half month, knowing he was heading for the end. The 39-year-old reckons that nothing comes close to the unbridled joy of playing for India
"You know the feeling that I recollect in the last 19 years is a very nice combination between duty pressure and immense joy. I never thought individually, these are the many games that I’ve played for the country, this is what I’ve done, good or bad, but now I did it. This last one and a half, two months, I did it and it was very strange. I did it because probably I was going towards the decision that this game, this next game is going to be my last."
"It took time because the kid inside me, he never wants to stop if given a chance to play for his country, man. Never. There hasn’t been, I’ve got, I’m really fortunate in my life, there has been so many amazing things that have happened to me. I practically live a dream, but nothing comes close to, to playing for a country."
