A lot of curious eyes were following Jeje Lalpekhlua's movements when he took the field against Sesa Goa in the Durand Cup,at the Ambedkar Stadium on Monday. The 21-year-old Pune FC striker had been a notable omission from the India squad named by national coach Wim Koevermans,which is simultaneously playing the Nehru Cup. The reason given behind dropping him was that he displayed poor fitness levels at the AFC U-22 Championship Qualifiers in June. Jeje's former Pailan Arrows teammate Manandeep Singh,who had long been in his shadow,had in contrast a superb last season,one that saw him push his way into the squad for the Nehru Cup. By playing the entire 90 minutes in back-to-back matches,Jeje proved,albeit partially,that his critics' claims were not founded on solid grounds. However,his Durand Cup performance was not an emphatic rebuttal as he fell way short of his potential and his presence in the field was not powerful enough to silence all the noises against him. Though Jeje,with his left leg bearing a muscle supporting strip,was a member of the starting eleven against both CRPF and Sesa,he scored just one goal,in injury time against the latter,a side which doesn't even feature in the top flight I-League. While he created and was fed chances aplenty,he failed to find a confident touch on the ball. The Mizo striker himself didn't talk up his performance. I am still recovering. There is still some way to go before I am fully fit. At the U-22 tournament in Dubai,I was really unfit. When I was given the letter to come for the training camp in Delhi,I wasn't confident. It didn't come as a surprise to me that I wasn't picked because,I knew I couldn't have competed at my best in the Nehru Cup, he says. Despite his omission,Jeje insists he is confident he can make his way back to the squad. Just because I'm not in the team now doesn't mean it will never happen. Of course I watch the matches on TV and support my team. But right now my aim is to get back to full fitness, he says. Luck hasn't favoured him either. While acknowledging the fact that he doesn't have enough match practice,Jeje was geared up to train ahead of his match on Monday but protests in the capital meant that the team instead had to focus on gym work at the hotel. Gym is crucial but I am not going to be 100% unless I get match practice, he says. There won't be any more match practice,for some time at least. With Pune FC drawing both their group games 0-0 against CRPF and 1-1 against Sesa,they are out of the tournament. Jeje's next chance will come in September's Federation Cup. Till then he is biding his time.
