XtraTime Web Desk: Former Indian national football team captain Bhaichung Bhutia has recently named his choice as the replacement for current skipper Sunil Chhetri . In a live instagram chat on Indian Super League, Bhutia picked both Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu as the best men for the role once Chhetri decides to relinquish his post.
“There are two players who could lead the team. One is Sandesh and the other is Gurpreet once Sunil thinks of retiring,” said Bhaichung.
The charismatic footballer from yesteryear also spoke about the talks going around about having four foreigners rule in Indian Super League.
According to Bhutia, “It’s important for ISL to have good quality football. With three foreigners and one Asian quota, I-League is doing it right. It’s about giving more opportunity to Indian players in the I-League so that they get noticed from big clubs from ISL. It can be a great platform.”
He went on to add, “For ISL, it’s important that the quality remains. Maybe the quality will go down and people might not watch it. The balance has to be there. Indian players are talented, willing to work hard, opportunities will come in.”
Bhutia suggested developing the technique of Indian footballers and said they should target playing in the Asian club football rather than eyeing European leagues.
“Don’t always think of going to European leagues. You can also target playing in Qatar League, Korean League, Chinese League or Japanese League, even UAE has good club standards. You get confidence, learn a lot.”
“To play abroad, your national team has to be recognized. Why don’t we have Brazilian cricketers in IPL? Because they do not play cricket. They also think the same way for India (in football). So we need to improve our performance. If we play at least quarterfinals or semifinals in the Asian Cup, then the number of players will also start moving out,” concluded Bhaichung.