Sunil Chhetri is unsure of when his last game would be for India

Sunil Chhetri, the captain of India and a gifted striker, downplayed speculation about his impending retirement on Friday, saying he has not set a date for it.

Chhetri scored five goals in the current SAFF Championship from three games, demonstrating his continued dominance of the Indian assault despite his age of 38.

“I’m unsure of the date of my last national team contest. It results from the fact that I’ve never set long-term goals; instead, I focus on the next game or 10 days. Retirement could occur when I least expect it since there are so many things to accomplish before I’m finished. On the day of India’s quarterfinal matchup with Lebanon, Chhetri said, “I never thought about it since that time.

Chhetri, who has 91 goals and is the second-highest scorer from Asia, said he has established certain criteria to help him decide whether to put up his boots.

“In general, there are a few things that I consider: whether I am helping the team out or not, whether I can score goals or not, and whether I am practising as hard as I want to or not. Some of these indicators will let me know whether I’m a good fit for this team or not. I will stop playing the moment I realise it is not there since I have lost all interest in doing so.

“Unfortunately, I’m unable to say if my retirement will be in a year or six months. Fortunately or unfortunately, my family is also making this assumption, and anytime they make it in jest, I give them my statistics. When I run out of my fuel, diesel, electricity, or anything, I’m done’, remarked Chhetri.

According to Chhetri, Lebanon is a formidable opponent, so taking them for granted might be risky. In the most recent Intercontinental Cup final, India defeated Lebanon 2-0, although he didn’t make too much of it.

“Lebanon is a hard country. They’ve already been performed twice by us. They probably feel the same way about us and our efforts to maintain our composure. After playing so many games in such a short period of time, we tried our best to recover.

Mahesh Gawli, India’s assistant coach, said the squad is fired up and prepared for the crucial test against Lebanon.

We are ready for the battle and Lebanon is a good side. The lads are driven, devoted, and focused, and they’ll keep displaying the same steel as we did in our prior matches, according to Gawli.