Sunil Chhetri, who is widely regarded as the greatest football player in India, made history in the Indian Super League (ISL) with his 64th goal, going past Bartholomew Ogbeche to become the top-scorer since the tournament’s inception in 2013. The memorable milestone happened at the Kanteerava Stadium during Bengaluru FC’s 3-0 win over Mohun Bagan when he scored the penalty, which was the third goal of the evening in the 51st minute, to help his team get to the top of the league in the early stages of the season.
This was quite an emotional win for Bengaluru FC and their legendary footballer Sunil Chhetri, who had lost to Mohun Bagan at home last season 0-4 in the ISL earlier this year. Over the last few years for club and country, Sunil Chhetri’s prowess in front of goal has gone down with age catching up, and it led to his decision to retire from international football, but still, he is quite a valuable performer for Bengaluru FC in the twilight of his career at 40 years of age.
Sunil Chhetri has played for Mumbai City FC and Bengaluru FC in his ISL career
Since the 2021-22 season of the ISL, Sunil Chhetri has scored 17 goals in 64 matches for Bengaluru FC, which is a stark contrast to 47 goals in 94 matches in the six prior seasons for Bengaluru FC and Mumbai City FC combined. But despite the difference in form in recent years, nobody can take the ISL title won by the Indian forward in his career with Bengaluru FC, which happened in the 2018-19 season during the prime years of his career in the sport.
Here is the list of top goal-scorers in the history of the Indian Super League:
Sunil Chhetri - 64 goals
Bartholomew Ogbeche - 63 goals
Roy Krishna - 56 goals
Ferran Coriminas - 48 goals
Diego Mauricio - 40 goals
It is no secret that Sunil Chhetri won’t be playing professional football for much longer, but still, according to Bengaluru FC manager Gerard Zaragoza, he is very happy to be a part of the Southern Indian club in the ISL currently. He was quoted as saying, as per ESPN, “I don't know what to say more about Sunil Chhetri. He's too happy. He's always pushing me to play more and to train more... he's always pushing to win every single exercise." He talked about how Chhetri remains the biggest inspiration within his squad, how everybody looks up to him, and remains in awe of his single-minded commitment to the cause. "... he's Sunil Chhetri, what [more] to say?”
