Sunil Chhetri's hat-trick drives India to 4-0 win against Pakistan in SAFF Championship 2023

SAFF Championship 2023 (Source: Twitter)

Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick as India thrashed arch-rival Pakistan 4-0 in the SAFF Championship 2023 on Wednesday, June 21, at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. After their recent Intercontinental Cup victory, the Blue Tigers entered the competition as a confident unit. They will aim to maintain their domination as they begin the tournament on a solid note.

India, well supported by the crowd, put pressure on Pakistan's defence right from the start and let them down in the 10th minute to open their account. The Pakistan goalkeeper's miss pass fed the ball to the Indian captain, who made no mistake in converting the simple opportunity. Chhetri doubled the lead six minutes later through a penalty, killing the opponents' confidence.

India tried to score more goals, but Pakistan tightened their defence, and both teams went into the halftime break 2-0. Pakistan managed to keep India quiet after the break, but another penalty in the 74th minute gave India a 3-0 lead, with their talisman completing his hat-trick. Eight minutes later, Udanta Singh Kumam netted India’s fourth goal to give the hosts a commanding victory.

Chhetri became the fourth-highest international goal-scorer of all-time

With this hat trick, the Indian skipper moved to fourth in the all-time international goal-scorers list. Chhetri is now only behind Argentina forward Lionel Messi (103), former Iran striker Ali Daei (109), and five-time Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal (123).

Meanwhile, Indian coach Igor Stimac had to leave the dugout just before half-time following an altercation with the Pakistan players. Stimac was given a red card for his needless attempt to prevent a Pakistani player from taking the throw-in. It also led to a brawl between players from both sides, as the Pakistani players were unhappy with the actions of the Indian coach.

Chhetri and Co. will face Nepal in their next SAFF Championship match on June 24. Pakistan, Nepal and Kuwait are the other teams in Group A, along with eight-time champions India. Lebanon, Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh will compete in Group B.