The captain of the Indian football team, Sunil Chhetri will be celebrating his 34th birthday, on Friday. Chettri, who plays as a striker in the national team, also plays the same role for the club, Bengaluru FC that he plays in. One of the most celebrated footballers in the country, Chettri is also called as ‘Captain Fantastic’.

Chettri’s family background is quite intriguing. His dad, KB Chhetri used to play football too, but for Indian Army’s team; whereas, his mother played for the Nepal Women’s national team. No wonder the Chettri Jr turned out to be a star player that he is, today!

As Sunil Chettri celebrates his 34th birthday today, we look at the statistics of India’s one of the greatest football players of all times, below:

1. With 101 international appearances, Sunil Chhetri is the most-capped football player in the Indian football team.

2. Not just that, Sunil Chettri has scored the most number of goals, i.e. 64 goals, for the Indian national football team.

3. Sunil Chettri also happens to be the third (active) player on the list of players to have scored the most number of goals, behind Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Lionel Messi (Argentina), who have scored 85 goals and 65 goals for their respective countries.

4. If one watches the goal-tally closely, it can be observed that Sunil Chettri goals-per-match frequency, i.e. 0.63 is marginally better than that of Cristiano Ronaldo (0.55) and Lionel Messi (0.51).

5. Not only has he scored the most goals for his country, but Sunil Chhetri also has the most number of goals for Bengaluru FC, i.e. 71 goals in 144 matches.

6. Sunil Chettri has won the AIFF Player of the Year award for a record five times, i.e. during 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2017.

7. The ace Indian footballer, Sunil Chettri, was rewarded with the prestigious Arjuna Award in the year 2011.

8. He is one of those rare players (read third) from the subcontinent who played for an international club.

9. In the recently concluded Intercontinental Cup in June, Sunil Chettri scored the most goals, i.e. 8, in four games.

Recently, Sunil Chhetri made a heartfelt appeal to the football fans on social media. The request struck the right chord, and there was record attendance in the next matches that India played. It was a rare occasion when the captain of the team had to resort to such an appeal.

As India’s greatest footballing sensation turns 34th, today, we wish Captain-Sunil-Chettri-Fantastic success in his career ahead. If you have a message for Sunil Chhetri too, please mention in the comments sections below.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 03, 2018 02:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).