Bhutia available for first match

NEW DELHI, JULY 21. Baichung Bhutia will be playing the first match, against Brentford FC, in India's exposure tour to England. Bhutia, who has been caught in a piquant situation to choose between the country and the club, is ready, for the time being, to play on Monday.

``Bhutia was in a dilemma whether to play and risk an injury before the training matches for his second division English club FC Bury,'' the All India Football Federation (AIFF) president, Mr. Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, said here on Saturday.``He (Bhutia) will play on Monday. I am not sure what he has decided about the rest of the matches,'' Mr. Dasmunshi asserted.FC Bury is practising for an exhibition match against Manchester United, and Bhutia is aiming to get into the starting eleven. This had forced him to re-think on the issue of risking injury and missing his club's match.

Confirming Bhutia's availability, Mr. Raj Purohit of Sapphire, the sponsor of the Indian tour, told The Hindu from London that the star striker was very much available for the first match. ``He, however, would be joining the team only one day ahead of the match,'' Mr. Purohit said.

``I have never stopped him (Bhutia) from playing for India,'' the Bury manager was quoted as saying by Mr. Purohit. Following a letter from the AIFF, Bury had agreed to release Bhutia, but the player himself was contemplating his chances of making it to the starting line-up for Bury against Manchester United.

- Our Sports Reporter

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