Indian football team overly-reliant on Sunil Chhetri for goalscoring, says Bhaichung Bhutia

Former Indian football skipper Bhaichung Bhutia, on Thursday, said that the goalscoring in the Indian football team is heavily dependent on Sunil Chhetri and the other players need to step up and score goals. Bhutia said that the team’s defence gave a good account of itself in the last World Cup qualifier against Qatar but the responsibility is now on the strikers to deliver against Bangladesh on October 15 in Kolkata.

“The Bangladesh game is going to be a big test for the strikers. It’s not the defence but the forward line which will have to deliver. I think against Qatar (in the drawn match), India defended well. We definitely require more goal-scoring strikers. We need to improve our striking zone as it’s only Sunil who’s able to score. If he’s not playing or does not score it becomes very, very difficult,” Bhutia told PTI in an interview.

The draw against Qatar in Doha gave India their first point in round two of the World Cup qualifiers after they had tasted a heartbreaking 1-2 defeat against Oman in their opening clash in Guwahati. India needs to defeat Bangladesh to keep its hopes of qualifying for the next round alive. Bangladesh is currently ranked 187th, while India is ranked at 104th.

“The way they have played the last two games, it should come easy for India and they should win it comfortably,” asserted the former captain.

He also spoke about India’s spirited display against Qatar, especially by the defensive unit led by 27-year-old goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who thwarted a barrage of attacks to come out on a clean slate. Bhutia believes India has set a standard and they have to keep it up with consistent performances.

“Defensive, formation, discipline and keeping it tight were the biggest takeaways. They played compact football. Gurpreet is one of the fantastic goalkeepers. I was in the committee of Arjuna Awards, I knew what Gurpreet has done,” he said on Gurpreet who was bestowed with the Arjuna Award recently.

Talking about centre-back Sandesh Jhingan, who has unfortunately been ruled out of the qualifier in Kolkata due to an ankle injury, Bhutia said, “He is one player who gives everything on the pitch. That’s been from day one when I first saw him as a 17-year-old boy at United Sikkim."