Sunil Chhetri admits he was 'hurt' by Stephen Constantine's rotation of captaincy

The Blue Tigers' ace experienced rotation even in the AFC Asian Cup 2019.

Indian talisman Sunil Chhetri has time and again grabbed the headlines for his on-field heroics. However, the national team skipper has now come up with a shocking revelation about the Blue Tigers' former head coach.

The AFC Asian Cup is a distant memory for Indian football fans now, as the Blue Tigers were knocked out from the group stages itself after they lost against Bahrain in the dying embers of the match. After the tournament, head coach Stephen Constantine stepped down from his post following India's heartbreaking exit.

Now, Chhetri, in an interview with the Times of India, has talked a lot about the ebbs and flows of his long and historic career and it was a drive down the memory lane for the 34-year old striker. The discussion also included the recently concluded Asian Cup and in a revelation, the Bengaluru FC man said that he was hurt by Constantine's rotation of the armband, though he supported the intent from the English tactician.

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Constantine's era saw him giving chances to a lot of youngsters and he also started a new policy of rotating the armband, as he wanted to distribute the responsibilities of being a leader. Hence Constantine went ahead with different captains like Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Sandesh Jhingan, Pronay Halder in the tournament and even in friendlies.

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“My only issue was, when I felt hurt. In friendlies, he used to rotate captaincy and in tournaments, I used to get it and I was okay with it. People who know me know I’m really happy whether I get the captaincy or not. But, when it happened where I was being rotated with a Pronay, Sandesh and Gurpreet, then I used to feel a little bit hurt. “

The revelation has turned heads in the Indian game, as it comes almost a month after India's exit from the continental tournament and with Constantine gone, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) are on the lookout to find a suitable replacement for the Englishman.