Baichung Bhutia hates the attention. It shows.

Having flown down from Kuala Lumpur for the launch of CricketNext.com's new business initiative -- 9Yards, a sports and entertainment company, Bhutia appeared weak and withdrawn.

On an assignment in Malaysia, the East Bengal striker was hospitalised in Kuala Lumpur with high fever last week.

"It was nothing really. I did not enjoy the food too much initially and that got me dehydrated," he said.

"I had stomach pain because of dehydration. But the very same day I was discharged from the hospital I scored a goal."

It was his first goal for Malaysian club Perak FC, for whom he will be playing for two months.

He, however, admitted that during the last 15-20 minutes of the match he was terribly tired.

India's football captain Bhutia has clearly come a long way since his early days at Tashi Namgyal Academy in Sikkim. The first Indian footballer to sign a professional contract with a European club, he is also the first Asian ever to have scored a goal in an English professional league.

Having recently led his club East Bengal to the ASEAN Cup title, Bhutia believes the triumph offers hope for Indian football.

"The win snatched some headlines and got Indian football a lot of publicity in the Asian region. The world will take Indian football more seriously now," he said.

He gave a lot of the credit for the upswing in Indian football to national coach Stephen Constantine.

"He has brought a freshness to the job. He made us more confident of ourselves. His good training techniques enhance our abilities. He is more equipped to help us," he said.

He felt standards in India are the same as in Malaysia, but the only difference is the professionalism in organisational skills.

But Bhutia believes that Malaysia markets the game better than India.

He said every team has a physio and two doctors during the game, and each of the 12 teams in the league are allowed two foreign players.

"This makes the game very competitive and high quality."

Asked why he chose to return to East Bengal after spending 2002 with Mohun Bagan, Bhutia replied, "Maybe, East Bengal wanted me more badly than Mohun Bagan."

The 26-year-old striker returns to Kuala Lumpur to fulfill his commitment with Perak FC, which means that he will miss the key East Bengal-Mohun Bagan encounter on September 4. "Unless East Bengal and Perak FC work something out, I'm in Kuala Lumpur till October," he said.