India coach Khalid Jamil comes clean about not picking Sunil Chhetri for CAFA Nations Cup: 'Had a talk with him about...

A huge stir erupted on social media after India's talisman, Sunil Chhetri, was not present in the 35-man probable list for the upcoming CAFA Nations Cup. The newly appointed head coach, Khalid Jamil, is facing a lot of flak on social media for leaving out the 40-year-old, who came out of international retirement earlier this year. However, on Sunday, Jamil put an end to all speculations, breaking his silence on the entire matter. Sunil Chhetri wasn't picked in the 35 probable list for CAFA Nations Cup (AFP)

The coach stated that the major reason for leaving Chhetri out was to try out a few younger players. He also stated that he had a word with the striker before leaving the Bengaluru FC star off the list.

22 players out of 35 have already assembled in Bengaluru for the training camp. The rest of the 13 will arrive once their commitments for the Durand Cup are concluded.

"Sunil Chhetri is a role model for Indian football, and the door is always open for him. He's not there in this camp because we are playing a tournament, which will essentially serve as preparation for our Asian Cup qualifiers, and I want to try out a few other players," said Jamil, according to an official X post by the Indian football team.

"I had a talk with him about the same. It's always a pressure to have a player like him in the team," he added.

Sunil Chhetri comes out of retirement

Sunil Chhetri announced his international retirement on March 6, 2025. At that time, it was announced that he would play his last match on March 25 against Bangladesh in the third round of qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 against Bangladesh.

However, he came out of retirement for the rest of the Asian Cup qualifiers games at the request of the then-head coach Manolo Marquez.

After his U-turn, Chhetri played four games for India and scored one goal. The striker is one of the most popular football stars in India, scoring 95 goals in 155 appearances.

Chhetri made his debut in 2005, scoring his first goal against Pakistan. The talisman has not trained with Bengaluru FC recently after the club suspended salaries for the first-team players and staff following the ongoing impasse regarding the Indian Super League (ISL).

The premier Indian domestic football tournament has been put on hold for this year, and it remains to be seen when a permanent solution is determined between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL).

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