Jeje Lalpekhlua still has a long way to go

The last few weeks have been like a dream come true for talented 20 year old striker Jeje Lalpekhlua. Good performances with goals galore for the Indian Arrows, India Under-23 and then even on debut for the senior national team where he scored four goals in three matches in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers. Jeje has been going from strength to strength, which is great to watch.

Still the youngster from Mizoram has a long way to go, but as one would expect the first comparisons are being made with Baichung Bhutia and some already say we finally have found a suitable replacement for the Sikkimese sniper and an able partner for Sunil Chhetri.

But we have seen over the last decade a number of boys who were termed as the next Baichung Bhutia, only to name a couple - Vimal Pariyar, Pachau Lalam Puia. They sadly didn't make it for different reasons.

Also lets be realistic, lets give Jeje the time to develop into a more complete player and not put him under added pressure. Jeje has just left his teenager days and has developed really well over the last three/four years since first joining Pune FC. Last season he was PFC's 'Young Player of the Year' and the club didn't want to release him for the Indian Arrows. We now know why.

Now Jeje is a key member of the Indian Arrows and there he is forced to develop quickly like his team mates, so the idea which Bob Houghton and Colin Toal had behind creating the Arrows is working with the youngsters getting precious playing time in the I-League against tough opposition.

Jeje himself has so far remained realistic knowing where he stands at this stage of his career. In a recent interview with the FPAI he had said, "It is a great honour to be part of the Senior National team. We have a huge population and it is not easy to make it here. I am happy to be here and I consider it to be a learning process to improve my game further."

I hope we will hear a lot more about Jeje Lalpekhlua in the years to come...