Baichung Bhutia is an Indian football player. He is the captain of the Indian team and plays for Mohun Bagan. His playing position in the team is of Striker. He was born on December 15, 1976 in Tinkitam, Sikkim to Dorji Dorma and Sonam Topden. His elder brother was a local footballer. Baichung finished his schooling from St. Xaviers School in Pakyoung, East Sikkim. He won the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Scholarship to attend the Tashi Namgyal Academy in Gangtok. Earlier, he used to play for several schools and local clubs in his home state, Sikkim. Baichung was noticed and came to the limelight with his performance at the 1992 Subroto Cup in which he won the Best Player title. He played first time for Sikkim Football Association in the 1992 Sikkim Governor’s Gold Cup. Baichung left his studies and joined the East Bengal Club in Kolkata in 1993 at the age of 16. He became the youngest player of India to score a winning goal against Uzbekistan in the 1995 Nehru Gold Cup Tournament. He moved to JCT Mills team (Phagwara, Punjab) which won the Indian National Football League in 1996-1997. He was the top goal scorer and was declared the Best Player of the Tournament He was named the “1996 Indian Player of the Year” Baichung returned to East Bengal in 1997 and became the team captain for the 1998-99 season at the age of 21. He was the top scorer and the Best Player of the 1999 SAFF Cup. He was honored with Sikkim State Award and Asian Player of the Year Award in 1999. He was also honored with Arjuna Award in 1999. Later, he traveled overseas to play for Bury F.C. after unsuccessful trails with Fulham F.C. and Aston Villa F.C. He became the first Indian to play professional football in England in 1999. He debuted against Cardiff City in a second Division League match. In the second match he became the first Asian born player to score a goal in the professional English game. He played for Bury F.C. for three years. Baichung returned to India and played for Mohan Bagan Athletic Club in 2002. He led the national football team to win the LG Cup in Vietnam in 2002. He then returned to East Bengal Club and helped the team win the LG Asean Club Cup football championship in Indonesia in 2003. He was the top goal scorer (9 Goals with a Double Hattrick). He played for Perak, the Malaysian Championship club (August 2003 - October 2003) also. He had signed an endorsement deal with Adidas India Marketing Pvt. Ltd in November 2003. He has also done commercial ads for brands like Nike, Anmol Biscuits, Sleepwell mattresses etc. He joined the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club in 2006 and helped the team to win the Federation Cup for which he received the Most Valuable Player Award. Baichung married his longtime girlfriend Madhuri Tipnis on December 27, 2004 in his native village of Tinkitam in South Sikkim. The government of Sikkim has built a stadium called the Baichung stadium in his honor. He was one of the nominee of NDTV Indian of The Year 2007 in sports category. Baichung was one of the contestants of the reality dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 3 on Sony Entertainment Television channel. His choreographer partner was Sonia Jaffer. He was declared the winner of  Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 3 on May 31, 2009.

To view current results of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 3 Mock polls at [click here].

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