Sunil Chhetri vs Baichung Bhutia: Comparing the Torchbearers of Indian Football
Sunil Chhetri and Baichung Bhutia have been the pioneers of Indian football such that when one tries to name 2 footballers of Indian football, it is these 2 names that crop up first to their minds.
While Baichung had a 16-year long career with the Indian national team that ended in 2011, Sunil Chhetri is still the mainstay of Indian football even 13 years after he began in 2005.
Though the comparisons between the two are futile, let us try to see them both through the angle of an outsider and analyze their contributions to Indian football.
#1 Appearances and Goals
Baichung Bhutia started his club career with East Bengal in the year 1993 and later went on to play for multiple clubs like Mohun Bagan, JCT Mills, United Sikkim etc.
He had a stint with Bury, a league-two club of English football where he made 37 appearances for them. He also had a Malaysian experience, first with Selangor MK Land in 2005 and second time with Perak FA while being on loan from Mohun Bagan in 2007.
In total, he has made a total of 226 appearances for various clubs while scoring 100 goals. His international career with India started in 1995 and he made 84 appearances, scoring 27 goals.
Sunil Chhetri, on the other hand, began his career with Mohun Bagan in 2002 and went on to play for clubs like JCT, East Bengal, Dempo, Churchill Brothers, Bengaluru FC, and Mumbai City FC.
He had a stint with American club Kansas City Wizards in 2010 where he did not make any appearances while his stint with the reserve team of Portuguese football club Sporting CP saw him make 3 appearances for them.
In total, as on 14th December 2018, he has made a total of 242 appearances for various clubs while scoring 120 goals and is still going strong. His international career with India started in 2005 and he has made 103 appearances while scoring 65 goals.