Indian men’s football team captain Sunil Chhetri flaunted his fielding skills as he visited the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru on Sunday evening and participated in a drill at the venue.

NCA is hosting 150-odd cricketers from North East and other Ranji Plate team and they were in for a surprise when Chhetri dropped for a talk. North-Eastern states got their first-class status as recently as three years ago and football is still the preferred sport in the region.

The likes of Bhaichung Bhutia and Chhetri are any day bigger icons compared to current star cricketers in states like Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh.

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Chhetri alongside NCA head VVS Laxman had a talk with the players who are having a skills training session at the NCA.

The Indian football team captain, who is one of the top scorers among active players in international football alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, did have his share of fun, taking part in fielding drills.

“NCA’s Neighbour, Indian Football Captain, and Legend, @chetrisunil11 dropping by on Sunday evening. He had a delightful fielding competition and shared some learnings from his own incredible journey in Football with the boys from North East and Plate Teams," the official Twitter handle of BCCI shared a video of Chhetri.

"It was a fantastic session as cricketers got to know from an icon in Indian sport as to what kind of hard work and sacrifice is required to reach the top,” a BCCI official told PTI.

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"This initiative by BCCI will give young and budding talents equal opportunity to hone their skills and represent India across formats. NE has enormous potential in sports and the board will keep no stone unturned to ensure that we are able to tap the best talent for the country," BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted a few days back.

(PTI inputs)