'Still hoping we go with the best possible team'

“Either the team doesn’t go, or we field the best possible team. Because it is the Asian Games.” That is Sunil Chhetri’s point of view about leading a squad of Indian Super League (ISL) irregulars to the continental showpiece event

- Dhiman Sarkar

“I am not blaming anyone. We can do all that later. I am not taking a dig at anyone. I am going because it is the Asian Games and my club wants me to though (coach) Simon (Grayson) is not happy. And I cannot say no to playing for the country. But with no disrespect to anyone, I do not want to lose face,” said Chhetri, 39, over the phone from Bengaluru on Thursday.

Left to him, Chhetri would not have been in Bengaluru nearly a week after resuming training after becoming a father. “We should have been in a camp or training in China,” he said. And if that is not possible, India should field a team where players know each other, have trained and played together, he said. Such as the under-23 squad Clifford Miranda took to China for the Asian qualifiers. Or, the squad India head coach Igor Stimac had selected which All India Football Federation (AIFF) released on August 1.

Familiarity would compensate for the lack of training going into Asian Games, he said. “I don’t know when I last played with Sumit Rathi or Narender Gahlot. It will be difficult for them and for me.”