New Delhi: I once worked with a senior British journalist, who assumed that as a sports buff I will also be an English Premier League fan. 'What's your team?', he asked me at our first meeting, expecting to hear Liverpool as an answer. It was pretty evident he was a Liverpool fan. In fact, it was difficult to guess whether you were sitting in his office in a media house or at Anfield. I thought for a minute and then said, 'East Bengal', much to his surprise, even a touch of anger as if I was mocking him.
But truth be told, my club was East Bengal and my player was, is, and will remain Baichung Bhutia. But Bhutia is not just my player, he is 'my player' to most Indians who have followed him and seen him guide Indian football for the past two decades. Arguably one of the greatest footballers India has ever produced, Bhutia was one of the torchbearers of Indian football in the international arena and his decision to call time on his international career makes me sad.
I first read about Bhutia in the papers when he was making waves in the 1992 Subroto Cup, but saw his game only when he had signed up with East Bengal in 1993. Those were the days when you could catch the domestic tournaments like the IFA Shield, the Durand Cup and the Santosh Tropy on Doordarshan. He was a player who gave you hope. His enthusiasm shone through, so much so that our evening sport of choice in a city like Delhi shifted from cricket to football. After all, he was a 16-year-old we could connect with.
When in 1995 he quit East Bengal to join JCT, there was heartbreak. How could Baichung leave my team? Seeing your favourite player not play for your favourite team is a difficult thing to see. And for two years I had to live with it. And what a season he had. Not only did he win the National Football League with JCT, he was the top scorer of the League and was named the 1996 Indian Player of the Year.
But soon enough in 1997 he was back at East Bengal for his second stint. In 1999, he left to play in the second division club in England, Bury FC. With no access to their live games, the papers were the only source of information. His stint with them lasted three years and by the time he returned to India in 2002, I was already a sports reporter and was eagerly waiting to meet with Bhutia and do my first interview with him.
And then disaster struck. Bhutia signed up with Mohun Bagan.
If the move to JCT in 1995 had left me with a heartbreak, his signing up with Bagan in 2002 was like an unbelievable blow. It was almost a betrayal. He too must have realised that and he came back home to East Bengal in 2003. On the sports desk that year, I tracked the ASEAN Cup as Bhutia found the back of the net on nine occasions, five of them in a 6-0 rout of the Philippine Army FC. East Bengal won the final against Tero Sasana 3-1.
Thereafter, Bhutia and East Bengal had a golden run. He scored 12 goals in the 2003-04 season, nine in the 2004-05 season and then 12 again in the 2005-06 season, a performance that won him the 'Player of the National Football League' award.
But in 2006, he went back to Bagan. But after three years at the club and scoring goals by the dozen for them, the Club questioned his committment when he took time out to participate in the television show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa. A six-month suspension was followed by a legal wrangle and despite his "homecoming" to East Bengal in 2009 on a one-year contract, injury laid him low for the season.
During all these years of following the game and the man, I never had the opportunity of meeting him. I was not a football reporter, I was only a follower.
But on August 13, 2008 all of that changed. It was the final of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup. India took on Tajikistan at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi and hammered them 4-1. It was a stupendous victory and for a country devoid of much success at the international level, it was a huge success. After the presentation ceremony, the players were waiting just outside the foyer and I walked up to Baichung Bhutia, shook his hand, spoke a few words, and then went into a complete tizzy as he gave me a hug.
It was a moment from a script I never had thought I would be part of. But I was. And I was there as a fan. It was a moment that will stay with me forever, along with all his on-field exploits. And now with Bhutia calling time on his international career, a lifetime of Indian football is coming to an end. True, he will continue to play for his club, but with injuries taking a toll there's no knowing how long that stint will be.
But for now, Baichung Bhutia thank you for giving the game hope in India. Thank you for the memories.
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