Soosairaj hopes to lead Chennai City FC to glory in I-League

V Soundararajan, manager of Chennai City, asserted that he wasn’t in any quandary about his choice of captain once D Ravanan chose to relinquish it at the end of last season. “Soosairaj was always the front-runner the moment Ravanan stepped down. Although young, Soosai had been a part of the Tamil Nadu Santosh Trophy team and he commands the respect of all his peers. I’m sure the captaincy will not be a burden and so far he hasn’t let it affect his performance,” said Soundararajan. 

Asked to touch upon the one aspect that made everyone speak so highly of Soosai, Soundar said it was his ball retention skills that made him second to none. “He can weave magic with the ball at his feet, and when it comes to dribbling, he can thread his way through a crowd of defenders. That is not all as he is equally good at scoring as well as making penetrative passes and eye-catching assists,” explained the 54-year-old Soundar. On the question of captaincy, Soosairaj echoed the words of his manager saying that he thrives on any added responsibility. “I’m not under any pressure to prove my worth as a captain. I share a close bond with all my team-mates and ours is a close-knit unit. The start to the season was not what we expected but we had a good away win over Churchill Brothers and we are hopeful that our form and fortunes will improve in the new year,” remarked Soosairaj. 

When asked if he had any designs on moving to the more glamorous Indian Super League just like his former team-mate at Chennai City, and good friend, S Nanda Kumar, who joined the capital club in Delhi Dynamos, Soosai said any such move would require the clearance of the club owner Rohit Ramesh. 

“I am indebted to my club owner Rohit Ramesh who has been a constant source of motivation. He said he would not stand in my way of leaving for ISL but only on the condition that I would get a regular berth in the playing eleven. As my true well-wisher, he doesn’t want me to warm the benches and I wouldn’t do anything that would displease him,”  added Soosairaj.