Author’s note: Player interviews for this piece were conducted before they joined the national team on the 12th of August.

Something odd went down on the afternoon of 10th May 2017 at the Barabati Stadium in Bhubaneswar. In a Federation Cup tie between DSK Shivajians and the mighty Bengaluru FC, skipper of club and country Sunil Chhetri hardly touched the ball. Bengaluru lost that tie 2-0 in the most surprising result of the tournament.

But more than the loss itself, it was the nullifying of Chhetri that caught the eye. Because it’s rare. It’s unlikely. Most teams have tried and failed to do it. Chhetri certainly switches off in games but it takes a single moment of genius for him to make headlines. Against DSK that afternoon, there was no such moment. No switching on. No late winner. Chhetri was invisible and Bengaluru had sunk.

Man-marking Chhetri

“From earlier games against ourselves and also watching Sunil against opposition teams, I decided that to give ourselves a real chance to nullify any danger and threat from the main orchestrator was to man mark him,” DSK manager Dave Rogers who played for 21 clubs in Ireland and England and famed for developing young talent told The Field. “But to do this kind of job and for it to work takes a player who needs the discipline, energy and game intelligence.”

That task went to 20-year-old Jerry Mawihmingthanga. And his instructions were simple.

“If Sunil goes to the toilet, you mark him there too. Even wash his hands for him.” Rogers is an animated character. This instruction made the dressing room chuckle - but Jerry was true to his responsibility.

He was tireless, flawless in his tackles and downright annoying - a fly which Chhetri simply couldn’t swat, try what he may. But man-marking is sparingly used against specific players with zonal marking very much the preference of most managers and coaches.

Rogers retains a rustic approach to defending and was brave enough to use it against Chhetri that hot afternoon. On another day, the ploy could have spectacularly failed. But it probably is the only template to stop Chhetri from influencing proceedings.

“Man marking jobs in football are not given the credit it deserves and takes a bit of sacrifice from your own team tactics but this role also takes a special player to execute it,” Dave added.

So it took an old-fashioned tactic to wear down modern Indian football’s talisman. It took a 20-year-old’s relentlessness to block the experience of a 33-year-old Indian legend - a man who has scored 54 international goals - only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (75 goals for Portugal), Lionel Messi (58 goals for Argentina) and Clint Dempsey (57 goals for USA) in the list of active international goal-scorers.

‘Hard to stop’

And this achievement is not because of pace or power or sheer athleticism. Solving the Chhetri puzzle takes a mind which can read the game like him. Chhetri’s weapon is his footballing brain and a technique to execute that brain’s orders.

“It’s all in the head. He visualises things before anyone else does. He predicts. You realise what he did once you enter the video room and see the replays. It’s hard to stop him because he is quick, agile and really clever,” Sandesh Jhingan, Chhetri’s teammate at Bengaluru and one of India’s finest defenders, tells The Field. Jhingan prides himself on the fact that Chhetri has never scored against him.

Another player who has seen Chhetri from close quarters is Eugeneson Lyngdoh. The playmaker usually plays alongside Chhetri for Bengaluru and India both, but often comes up against him in training.

“You have to think more when he’s running at you because he has a lot of things up his sleeve. It’s a tricky situation when you’re defending against him. He’s not predictable and he could go left or right or through the middle or just pass. So your decision-making against him has to be careful,” Lyngdoh says.

Part of the unpredictability Lyngdoh mentioned is also about Chhetri’s strength. From a distance he may not seem strong. From close quarters though, Chhetri is big-shouldered and remarkably fit.

“Shoulder to shoulder with him, he certainly feels stronger than he looks,” Lyngdoh adds.

Lyngdoh and Jhingan both approach defending against Chhetri differently. But then there are those who treat him like any other player. Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and defender Nirmal Chhetri are part of that group.

Mental battle

“There is no doubt he’s one of the best in India with an exemplary desire and commitment. But when on the pitch, I see him as just another player. I like a challenge and he provides that. Sunil bhai is confident - he will egg me on: ‘dekh abhi main goal karunga.’ But he has qualities that others don’t have and the secret is to not give him time and space,” Gurpreet says.

As for Nirmal - his only believes in never committing against Chhetri. “I don’t differentiate between which player is coming at me but maybe it’s because after a point you know them so well. With Sunil bhai, it’s always about not committing. But the danger is the same - you never know what he’s going to do. Committing will only give him more opportunity to exploit - this is probably what I’d do against any top-level striker though.”

Chhetri’s thinking on the pitch is probably as concise as in life. He doesn’t dwell on decisions, he knows when he will retire and he has managed to stay committed to one club for a while. Stability makes him tick off the pitch and unpredictability, on it. Defending against Chhetri is not an art - it is a game of chances. Because if you stop him on the flanks or in midfield or in the penalty box, he can still curve in a freekick to undo everything else.

As Jhingan says: “It’s funny when you play teams and you can hear managers from the sidelines scream at their players to get on Chhetri. ‘Mark him! Mark him! Go after him!’ I find it funny because he still manages to make them pay.”

Come the AFC Cup Inter-Zone Semi-final against April 25 SC on Wednesday, the oppostion managers and players will likely devise similar tactics against Bengaluru FC’s talisman. And hopefully for the Indian club, Chhetri will still succeed and we’ll all find it funny.

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