Sunil Chhetri feels honoured after being conferred with Padma Shri

Bengaluru, January 25: Indian football team's all-time leading goalscorer and talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri said it was a huge honour to be conferred with Padma Shri award.

The Bengaluru FC skipper, along with former former Indian cricketer and World Cup-winner Gautam Gambhir, ace wrestler Bajrang Punia, chess player Harika Dronavalli, table tennis player Sharath Kamal, archer Bombayla Devi Laishram, basketball player Prashanti Singh and kabaddi star Ajay Thakur were among the sportspersons who were conferred with Padma Shri on the eve of country's 70th Republic Day.

The government conferred Padma awards to 112 people this year - 4 Padma Vibushan, 14 Padma Bhushan and 94 Padma Shri.

Chhetri was previously conferred with Arjuna Award in 2011. Now, the 34-year-old is set to become the sixth Indian footballer to be conferred with the country's fourth highest civilian award.

.@chetrisunil11 to become 6⃣th footballer to be awarded the Padma Shri 🏆⚽️

Read here 👉 https://t.co/7CyF9N4vAM#IndianFootball #PadmaAwards #BlueTigers #BackTheBlue pic.twitter.com/RjzVRDbFC1

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) January 25, 2019

The late Gostho Paul, late Sailen Manna, PK Banerjee, Chuni Goswami and Bhaichung Bhutia are the other Indian footballers to receive this honour.

Talking about the honour, Chhetri, who was part of the Indian team which competed at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2019, told Sportstar, " It's a huge honor and I cannot explain how it feels in words. I hope to keep working hard and be worthy of it".

Bengaluru FC also paid glowing tributes to its star, who is currently leading them in the ongoing Indian Super League season where they are topping the table.

Captain. Leader. Legend. #PadmaAwards #SC11 pic.twitter.com/z9tiE5W0xn

— Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) January 25, 2019

In the ISL, Chhetri is the highest-scoring Indian in the history of the tournament. After his fine performances in the 2017-18 campaign, Chhetri was awarded the Hero of the Season award.

👏👏👏 @chetrisunil11 👏👏👏#HeroISL #LetsFootball https://t.co/8V8lzBsiIj

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) January 25, 2019

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) had recommended Chhetri's name for the Padma Shri for his outstanding contribution to Indian football. With the national team, Chhetri, who made his debut against archrivals Pakistan in 2005, has won the Nehru Cup in 2007, 2009, and 2012, the AFC Challenge Cup in 2012, and the SAFF Championships in 2011 and 2016. Earlier in August, 2018, the AFC honoured him as an Asian football icon.

With his 67th goal in the recent AFC Asian Cup tie against Thailand, Chhetri surpassed Lionel Messi as the second-highest active international goal-score after Cristiano Ronaldo.