Bhutia optimistic of India’s chances

As the Fifa World Cup qualifiers are just round the corner, Indian football team are still struggling with their form, displaying a dismal show at the Intercontinental Cup in Ahmedabad recently.

India, who had lost 2-4 against Tajikistan and 2-5 against North Korea, collected their first points of the tournament after playing draw against Syria 1-1 in their last outing at the league stage of the tournament. Even as India ended at the bottom of the table with just one point, former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia showed a positive attitude towards the team saying, tournaments like these can’t be considered a platform to judge the team’s performance.

“Tournaments like these are just a trial and testing process of the new coach for players and giving new and young players an opportunity to play for the country. These tournaments can not be used as a platform to judge how the team is performing,” said Bhaichung.

Despite making ample amount of efforts and changes, Indian team have failed to produce quality players in the sport for a long time, having just the same handful of players to count on.

“It’s a bit obvious that the team depends on few players like (Sunil) Chhetri, etc, as they are the best players of the lot currently and other players should also live up expectations now and start delivering for the team,” said the Arjuna and Padma Shree Awardee.

“Players like Jeje, Udanta and Pronay can play a major role in team’s performance,” he further added.

Guwahati being speculated as one of the venues for one of the World Cup qualifying matches, Indian team are expected to make the most out of it and use the home ground to the maximum of its advantage.

The 42-year-old footballer turned politician said, “Yes definitely the team would have the home advantage and Guwahati would definitely be a great support. I’m confident that the team will perform good, it’s just that we need more fans showing up in the stadium.”

As far as the team’s playing strategy is concerned, Bhaichung felt that any strategy can work till the time it is giving the required result.

Bhaichung was in the capital to speak about the benefits of a regulatory framework for the Online Gaming Industry. FICCI in association with AIGF (All India Gaming Federation) an apex body that focuses on policy advocacy, research and forum for discussion among various stakeholders associated with the online gaming industry hosted a ‘Knowledge Session’ on Integrity in Sports in the capital this week.