Bhubaneswar: The entire footballing fraternity is counting the days till June 6 when an icon of the sport, Sunil Chettri will be donning the Blue Tigers jersey for the final time against Kuwait at the Salt Lake Stadium.  

Chhetri announced his retirement in an emotional nine-minute-long video posted on social media on May 16.

Chhetri took to Instagram to share his thoughts and mindset heading into his final game. “These last few days, I’ve been caught in a bit of a dilemma. Now that there’s a number to my days with the national team, what’s the right route to take - do I count every day, every training session? Or do I simply turn up without the thought of how this is coming to an end?” 

“Over time, I seemed to have found middle ground. They say, count your blessings. And every single day I get to be on the pitch is a blessing that I’ve never taken for granted. So I’ve decided to count my sessions, but with a deep sense of gratitude. There’s no apprehension. Instead, there’s a feeling of being indebted to the sport, to my team, that I get to do this.

"If I could, I would capture this feeling in a box. Or instead, I’ll take it to my next training session,” read the post.

Chhetri will be hoping to end his glorious international career on a high. It is a must-win game for India if they want to progress to the next round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. They are up against in Qatar in their final game on June 11.

The Blue Tigers are currently training in Bhubaneswar.

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