BENGALURU: After getting tested positive for Covid-19 on March 11, Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri underwent a tough phase, experiencing a pain like never before. Even after testing negative, his recovery was slow and steady as he prepares for the AFC Cup qualifiers against Tribhuvan Army FC on Wednesday in Goa. The 36-year-old in a virtual media interaction spoke about his Covid struggles, his recovery and AFC Cup among others in a virtual interaction. Excerpts.
On recovery
You know when you don't have Covid and you think or read about it, you think that you will be fine…you are a fit person and nothing will happen, but I really struggled. I have never felt like that kind of physical pain ever in my life. It was brutal. Everyone should take care of themselves; it is not something that one can mess around with. Recovery was good. I was advised, the first seven days even after I tested negative, not to push myself. It was more of just walking, cycling, they monitored my heart rate and stuff like that. I had to take my chest x-ray then only I got a green chit to train with the team.
On resuming training
It is slowly and steadily. What happens is you do know that you are not there yet, but you cannot give a percentage or you don’t know where you are lacking. You can’t say this is why and this is how much I am far. But you can feel it. You think you are fitter than what you are, but the medical team handled the situation well and slowly helped me get into training. What you think is once you test negative, you can go and start training, but it is not like that. It is a process and you have to be careful and start slowly.
On frequent Covid tests
It is annoying, to be very honest. Every second day we get tested here, so until the results come, you are always skeptical. Because you do not want to miss people in training and then you also have to trace back people who all were in contact with the person. It is not an easy task. But every time I complain, at least we are getting to do our jobs. We are able to train, play matches. If you just talk about that single thing it is bothering, but in the larger scheme of things, it is alright.
On AFC Cup
We are taking one game at a time. Generally when I say this we are the dominant side and we want to stay humble. But this time I'm saying it and meaning it. We watched Tribhuvan beat the Sri Lankan team. You can see the unity and the way they have trained. It's not going to be easy. So we are not thinking about the group stages or who we are going to play next.
What are you looking into this new phase?
I really expect a reaction and it starts from an individual, especially from the whole team. Because I am the senior one, the captain, I want it for myself. See the good thing, when we lose a game, sometimes, what you do is start pointing your fingers at each other, the good thing was that we were so bad, everyone of us was so bad that there are no pointing fingers at anyone. There is so much to improve within your own boundaries that it is a good time.The good thing is we did so badly that we have so much space to improve. We know what we can do.
Training under new coach, Marco Pezzaiuoli....
There are few differences compared to what we would do under Carles (Cuadrat). There are few similarities, but you can see a distinct difference. I have just started training seven to eight days under him. One good thing is the change, and it is a very positive change at the club, which is good. The youngsters are enjoying it. What a new manager does is there is no prejudice, there is no previous baggage of what one can do and one cannot. He will see whatever he sees in training and he will make his mind. Also, the fact that we were horrible, to say the least last year, gives an added motivation to all of us to give and perform as good as we can.