Sunil Chhetri. (Getty Images)

In a WhatsApp group that has five members Sunil Chhetri is his truest self. When Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan finished with a scissor-kick shot on the run against Aston Villa last week, Sonu Lamba , Chhetri's player representative, drew a parallel while marvelling at the goal. "Sunil scored a similar one against Mahindra United," he messaged in the group.

True to style, Chhetri smiled at first, before doing what he does best: volley it back. "Yes, but he also missed chances against Bangladesh and NorthEast United."

"Can't wait to get a game to take out this feeling inside me. The world revolves around goals. Even after 350 goals, it's the same. How did I miss this?" he replied. He was still punishing himself for misses in previous matches for country and club.

On the evidence of his 19 years in competitive football, Bengaluru FC's 'captain, leader and legend' is quite easily the best player India has had in decades. He is the only face the world knows of Indian football. He is our record goal scorer-statistically, two more than Lionel Messi for Argentina and second only to Cristiano Ronaldo among active players -and has already collected over a hundred caps. In a cricket-mad India, he spells hope for thousands who have chosen to back the beautiful game.

He has played and scored in both of India's appearances in the Asian Cup this century, and even though he will be 39 when the next edition is played in 2023, chances are he will still be leading India's charge. So, what keeps this incredible player ticking, the man in whose honour the fans sing.

'We've got Chhetri, Sunil Chhetri... I just don't think you understand. Oh! when he scores, we go f***ing mad... We've got Sunil Chhetri.'

A player, who fan-packed stands are proud to own: 'Can you see that man play, He's our number 11, And he's our mighty own, champion living legend...'

Lamba, Chhetri's childhood friend, who gave up his career in the merchant navy some six years ago to become his player representative, says, "He sees things like nobody does. He keeps educating himself. He will not waste time on social media; he will either train, watch motivational videos, or like in the last 18 months, read books. He keeps himself physically and mentally very fit. That's what separates him from the rest."

Chhetri's single-minded focus, commitment to fitness - a recent craze - and a thick coat of professionalism is stuff of legend at Bengaluru FC. His pre-season at the club starts four days before everyone else, and it's only the kit man who knows how he lays out the cones and trains all on his own.

Kunaal Majgaonkar, Bengaluru FC's media manager and Chhetri's confidant, says, "Chhetri has a different kind of obsession. I'm talking as a neutral and not someone who is around him most of the time. You still cannot see that kind of obsession, although a lot of players do things right."

Majgaonkar remembers the time when the two of them chose to drive to Ooty for a quiet retreat. It was meant to be Chhetri's time away from everything - family, football and fitness included-but on the first day itself, Bengaluru's highest goal scorer for six successive years showed his true colours.

"By chance, I happened to wake up early on the first day, possibly at 6 am, and Chhetri was nowhere on the bed. I looked down, and there he was, doing push-ups on the floor. That man is obsessed. He can't really take his mind off football," says Majgaonkar.

The only time Chhetri is not thinking about football is when he is at home, spending time with his wife Sonam, playing cards, watching documentaries on television and going 'Inside the Mind of Bill Gates' on Netflix.

He was gifted five books on his 35th birthday. There was one on geography (Prisoners of Geography), tigers (Living With Tigers), mountaineering (Into Thin Air), minimalism (Goodbye Things) and life reflections (Tuesdays with Morrie), and he spends a great amount of his spare time sampling the thrill and excitement that good books provide.

"Chhetri wants to make up for what he lost out (on education)," explains Majgaonkar. For the unawares, Chhetri's dream was to make it to St Stephen's College in Delhi, but before he could line-up for admission, Mohun Bagan turned up with a contract and the promise of a football career he simply couldn't refuse at age 18.

Udanta Singh, a player Chhetri greatly admires and mentors, says, "When I joined Bengaluru FC, I was excited about sharing a dressing room with Sunil bhai and learning everything I could from him, on the pitch. After six seasons, I can easily say that it is what he does off the pitch that has taught me the most."

"He wants to get better every day, but he also wants everyone around him to get better. The reason we all look up to him is not because of how many goals he has scored or awards he has won, but it is because he does exactly what he asks us to do. He leads by example."

Everyone who has spent some time with Chhetri knows that his obsession with fitness is on a "different level." Since he landed at Bengaluru FC in 2013 and discovered that there was no white rice, no chicken with bones and certainly not "butter chicken" - thanks to coach Ashley Westwood, a graduate of the Manchester United academy -- he measures down to a grain what his body needs. And he will never allow his teammates to indulge in something that will do their bodies no good.

Even if Udanta is dying for a spoonful of white rice, he will think twice before helping himself. Chhetri would be waiting for him; at airports, nobody escapes his eyes, and even at the Diwali get-together that he hosted at his residence, he ensured that "everyone had a good time" while he almost starved himself and took a spoon of veg pulao when requests became too much to ignore.

Lamba says, "In our family, we joke that if Sunil is playing even with our daughter, he will not allow her to win. He wants to win all the time, whether he is competing with a six or a 60-year-old."

Chhetri's inner-circle will tell you that he has always been like that. Whether it's football, carrom, badminton, table tennis or even monopoly, whatever the stage, he'll give his all. For now, India and Bengaluru FC are reaping the benefits and, except for the opposition, nobody is complaining.

