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on 2008/5/9 3:44:54
Football captain Baichung Bhutia on why movies like Chak de India can’t benefit a game
His Wikipedia profile describes him as ‘the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena’. The irony of the description is that this eponymous footballer (he has a stadium named after him) is, the only Indian who has refused to carry the Olympic torch. But Bhutia, who is currently captaining the Indian football team, is clear about not regretting the move. “It’s too personal a thing for me; I just want to support the Tibetan cause and this is my way of doing it,” he notes succinctly.
Sport truths
He’s more forthcoming to talk about everything else like his hobbies, which include music and TV. And while movies and cricket do not top his list of favourite pastimes, he does watch sports-based movies. “I loved watching movies like Chak De and Goal. But a movie can only briefly expose the audiences to the sport. It certainly can’t save the sport,” he emphasises.
In fact, Bhutia’s critical of the training that was depicted in the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chak De, which had the girls’ hockey team slogging for hours. “That’s exactly the kind of training we don’t need; one can get away with it in a movie. But for the record, that’s not what’s it’s like —what works is the SPARQ (standing for speed, agility, reaction and quickness) training programme, which has also been introduced by Nike in the USA. It is scientific and the latest in training programmes,” he reveals.
Style vs substance
Commenting on his much appreciated sense of style he says, “I’m all for comfort. And yes, it’s important to carry oneself well—especially in our country where people tend to judge a person by what he or she wears. More importantly, one should perform on the field.”
Best foot forward
‘It’s very easy to blame other sports (read cricket) as the reason why football or even hockey are not getting their due. But the fact remains that we ourselves need to buck up,” he elaborates adding that there’s future in football.
Baichung likes to take every match as it comes. “I haven’t planned for the future though I’d like to be involved in a training academy for kids,” he ends.
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