KOCHI: A front-line formed by IM Vijayan, Bhaichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri would have been every Indian football fan's dream.

While Bhutia played alongside Vijayan and Chhetri, the three never played together. During an Instagram live chat between the two on Sunday, Vijayan opened up to Chhetri about how one of his regrets in his career was to have missed out on an opportunity to play with the current Indian skipper.

"If I had delayed my retirement by at least one or two years, maybe I could have played alongside you. I was unlucky. That's one thing that I'm jealous of Bhaichung is that he got to play with you but I never got to play with you. Imagine what you, me and Bhutia could have done while playing together. It would have been great," Vijayan told Chhetri.

The Bengaluru FC player also said that it is one of his regrets to never have played with Vijayan who had retired from international football after the Afro-Asian Games in 2003 after scoring 40 goals for India.
Chhetri is India's all-time leading goalscorer with 72 goals from 112 appearances and is showing no signs of stopping even at the age of 35.

"You can still easily play three more years for India even while taking so much load on yourself when playing for club and country. Scoring so many goals and doing all this is not easy," said Vijayan.
When Chhetri asked Vijayan what advice he would give to young aspiring players, the 51-year-old was forthright with his answer.

"I was telling Sahal (Abdul Samad), don't look anywhere else. Just look at your seniors and the players who are in front of you. Look at Sunil Chhetri and see what he is doing. I told this to Ashique Kuruniyan and everyone. I'm not saying good things because you are interviewing me, I'm just telling what I see," said Vijayan.