Baichung Bhutia in on course towards the 50-goal mark. The ace striker, who has been donning India colours for over a decade now, opened the scoring for East Bengal in the quarter-final match of the ASEAN championship against Indonesian league runners-up Persita Tangerang in Jakarta on Monday to take his goal tally in the championship to six and 44 internationally.

The phenomenal striker from Sikkim had, in fact, kicked off his club career with a goal in an international match. It was the inaugural Airlines Gold Cup match and his maiden appearance for East Bengal. The red and gold brigade beat Victoria Sporting Club of Bangladesh 6-0, with the 18-year-old Bhutia scoring the last goal in the rout.

Bhutia has scored 174 goals in various tournaments, including the Federation Cup, National Football League, Santosh Trophy and Kolkata Super League and besides representing India. Of these, 44 goals have come against foreign teams. Twenty-four of them have come in national colours.

In between, he had a three-year stint with Bury FC in England. There he achieved marginal success in the few matches he played, scoring only three goals. The later half of his contract went into disarray as he was plagued by an injury. He returned home to play domestic football last season for Mohun Bagan, but could not perform to his potential due to a niggling injury. A frustrated Bagan administration refused to retain him even though he opted for a pay cut.

But East Bengal coach Subhas Bhowmik had faith in him. He chased him down to Assam and signed him up. Now fully rehabilitated and after over a month's training under the hawk eyes of South African trainer Kevin Jackson Bhutia is back to his best. His showing holds much promise for East Bengal's campaign in the National Football League, where they will be defending their crown, and India's upcoming matches.