Sunil Chhetri has mentored me from the first day, reveals Udanta Singh

Udanta Singh has been a mainstay in the Indian national team ever since making his debut back in 2016 after inspiring performances on the domestic circuit with Bengaluru FC. Having mostly played with the same club throughout his career, the Manipuri was fortunate enough to play alongside Sunil Chhetri in the same time frame. The footballer recently stated how the Indian skipper has been a mentor to him and encouraged to push up his level in every step.

“He has been my mentor from day one. He encourages me a lot. He’s always talking to everyone on the team, pulling us and pushing us in the right direction. His attitude of pushing for a win even during the fun games in training rubs off on everyone. He will challenge me at speed training one moment, and the next he will be competing with Erik on the weights in the gym,” said Udanta Singh, during an interview with timesnow.com.

The speedy winger made his International debut back in 2016, incidentally against Asian heavyweights Iran. Even though the situation was having the better of him prior to the kick-off, it was Sunil Chhetri who came and helped him calm down and cope with the situation.

“It was one of the happiest moments for me when I came to know that my name is on the national team preparatory camp. There were around 6 players from my club (Bengaluru FC) so it was not that difficult to adapt. Moreover, I had the guidance of Sunil (Chhetri) bhai and that helped a lot. My first game against Iran. There was an adrenaline rush, but Sunil bhai came over, asked me to calm down, enjoy myself and to understand my strength and use it effectively,” added the footballer.