Sunil Chhetri wishes U-19 cricketers luck ahead of World Cup final

Sunil ChhetriIndian football team skipper Sunil Chhetri on Friday said the India U19 boys deserve to be tagged favourites ahead of their final against Australia and he hopes they come back with the Cup I watched them play against Pakistan They are really good and deserve to be favourites going into the final I wish them all the best and hope they come back with the World Cup Chhetri told reporters ahead of Bengaluru FCs clash against ATK in an Indian Super League ISL gameIndia have been convincing in every game leading up to the final and in their first outing thrashed the Aussies by 100 runs Besides beating Australia in their tournament opener the Rahul Dravidcoached India colts thumped minnows Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe by 10 wickets before outclassing neighbours Bangladesh in the quarterfinal by 131 runs Meanwhile back in the city for the first time as soninlaw after marrying former Mohun Bagan defender Subrata Bhattacharyas daughter Sonam Chhetri said he has a special place for Kolkata in his heart and its always good to come backKolkata has always had a special place in my heart Its always great to come back Not only because now I am the soninlaw here now I have played for a long time in Kolkata Chhetri tied the knot with longtime girlfriend Sonam in Kolkata in December last year Indias highest goalscorer started his career with city giants Mohun Bagan in 2002 before moving to JCT football club only to come back and put to paper for East Bengal where he spent one season Chhetri later plied his trade for Chirag United in 2011 before rejoining Mohun Bagan on a oneyear deal Coming to Bengaluru where the journeyman striker has spent the longest time in his illustrious career Chhetri said the Blues cannot take struggling ATK lightly as their place at the top half of the table is not securedATK are a good side and we cannot take them lightly We cannot be complacent just because we are in top two We have to put our best foot forward the 33year old said ATK are currently placed eighth in the points table and will come into Saturdays game on the back of three reversals Bengaluru on the other hand are top of the tree Talking about his former allegiances Mohun Bagan and East Bengal who are also finding it difficult in the ILeague running simultaneously Chhetri said I hope ATK and also East Bengal and Mohun Bagan bounce backOn Saturdays game Bengaluru coach Albert Roca said they have lots to improve on and would like to take the ATK game as an opportunity to do that We havent been able to win three games in a row this season which means we have so many aspects to improve upon The game against ATK gives us the chance to change a pattern that we are not particularly proud of Also a defeat would have our rivals jumping at the chance to go ahead of us said RocaHaving failed to repeat the consistency of the past seasons ATK are currently 10 points adrift of the top four places with just six games left But their interim coach Ashley Westwood believes his side still has a mathematical chance of making it to playoffs It is still a mathematical possibility If we win 6 out of 6 Im sure well be close So there is definitely motivation in the team Westwood told reporters at the prematch press conferenceCatch up on all the latest Mumbai National and International news hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the goThe contentreporting displayed on our website wwwmiddaycom is provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE by us from third party agencies sources without any verification from our side It may contain error bugs and other limitations The readers can rely on the content at their own will Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability data text images video messages or any other material whatsoever or for any claimslossaction that the reader may suffer as a result of relying on the content on our site Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever