Training the proper way is important, says Bhutia

Mumbai, May 7 (UNI) Indian football captain Baichung Bhutia today said that only training hard was not enough, but training the proper way was more important.

''It's about training the right way as well as training hard which is most important,'' the Sikkim-born mercurial striker said here at a media conference to launch new Nike products today.

As an example, Bhutia said that he has not seen a more talented footballer from the country than I M Vijayan, the former national skipper hailing from Kerala, who would have achieved much more, had proper training facilities been available during his days.

''Vijayan was as talented as any other footballer in the world. With his inherent talent if only he had the right training methods to fall back on and proper guidance, he would have gone very far,'' the champion footballer said.

He also gave the example of Portugal's ace striker Christiano Ronaldo who, he felt, has now become a complete footballer after moving to England.

''Christiano Ronaldo was very skillful when he came to England. After working on improving his fitness and strength when he joined Manchester United, he has become a complete footballer,'' he pointed out.

Bhutia's views were endorsed by National Cricket Academy's Director of operations and former Australian player Dav Whatmore.

Whatmore said that talented old-time cricketers would have collapsed had they been fitted into the modern-day grind and not worked on their fitness as hard as the present day cricketers are doing.

UNI GS RN AB AS1730