India vs Afghanistan, World Cup qualifiers: Could Sunil Chhetri end India's goal drought on his 150th game?

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Indian football team skipper Sunil Chhetri will play his 150th game on Tuesday. India will be looking for a much-needed win in this match and everyone will look to the star of the team. Chhetri will have a tough job at hand nonetheless to end his unwanted run.

Chhetri has scored a total of 93 goals from his 149 appearances for the Blue Tigers so far. He is the third active player in the world with most international goals to his name. Now, he will become the 40th player in the world with 150 or more international appearances.

All India Football Federation (AIFF) also announced that they will felicitate the skipper in Guwahati on Tuesday. Acting secretary general of AIFF, Mr. M Satyanarayan said, “In many football fans’ eyes, Chhetri is almost the synonym of the Indian Men’s National Team, something that is not far from the truth.”

AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey said, “He has been a great influencer who has motivated millions to play this Beautiful Game. I congratulate Chhetri for reaching this great height in international football.” Chhetri holds a unique record of scoring in all of his 25th, 50th, 75th, 100th, and 125th matches.

• 25th match - on 13th August 2008 vs Tajikistan - 4:1 win - 3 goals
• 50th match - on 5th December 2011 vs Bhutan - 5:0 win - 2 goals and 1 assist
• 75th match - on 5th March 2014 vs Bangladesh - 2:2 draw - 2 goals
• 100th match - on 4th June 2018 vs Kenya - 3:0 win - 2 goals
• 125th match - on 16th October vs Nepal - 3:0 win - 1 goal

That's why every eye will be on the man of the hour, Sunil Chhetri on Tuesday to save the day for them another time. India have now gone five matches without any win or goal. Their AFC Asian Cup campaign in January this year was the worst run in their history.

Additionally, they need to at least accumulate five points from their next three World Cup qualifiers matches to progress to the third round. Considering their next two matches are against Kuwait and Qatar, getting all three points on Tuesday against Afghanistan is their best bet.