Baichung Bhutia is all set to take over reigns from Shanmugam Venkatesh as India captain for the SAFF Cup, scheduled to be held in Karachi, Pakistan from December 7.

Bhutia, it is learnt has impressed national coach Syed Nayeemuddin, coach Gabriel Joseph and former technical director P.K. Bannerjee during the ten-day camp that kicked off in Delhi on November 22.

Nayeemuddin is said to be so happy with the commitment shown by the Sikkimese, that it appears he has welcomed him back like the prodigal son. Bhutia has been training hard and motivating the players, egging them on to train harder.

Nayeemuddin has had Bhutia reading some enlightening motivational literature to the players in the camp, projecting the importance of hard work and reaping rich rewards.

Injuries to star players in the Santosh Trophy may have dampened the spirits of Nayeemuddin but he is not giving up and having brought in reinforcements in the form of Alvito D'Cunha and M. Suresh has only strengthen his resolve to bind the team together.

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The fact that he had the AIFF drafting these two players into the camp, outside the 100 shortlisted, goes to prove Nayeemuddin is rooting for the tried and tested that are still fit, rather than youth and talent as time is too short to groom them and throw them into a tournament such as the SAFF Cup which could be his test of trial.

India is pitted along with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal in group 'B' while hosts Pakistan have Maldives, Sri Lanka [Images] and Afghanistan in their group.

And when it comes to captaincy, though Venkatesh has led the national team in the last two international sojourns in Pakistan and Fiji, which turned out to be disastrous, Bhutia is still respected and revered by all the footballers, even Venkatesh himself.

Having bounced back into Nayeem's favour with sheer hard work and dedication, Bhutia looks set to return to the throne as India captain.

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