Kick Off: Will the season get better for Vishal Kaith?
While Sunil Chhetri returned, GK Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was dropped from India's squad. Vishal Kaith now has the opportunity of a liftime, writes Dhiman Sarkar.
If Sunil Chhetri’s return marks continuity, it is the opposite for India in goal. Current form is key, Manolo Marquez has said in his defence of including Chhetri. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s exclusion is for the same reason. Sandhu, No. 1 since his debut against Iran in 2015, finds himself out of the squad on form for the first time since he became an India regular.
Errors and omission
The errors had been piling through 2024 which Sandhu bookended with mistakes that led to goals against Australia and Malaysia. After the Asian Cup opener, India’s goalkeepers’ coach Tomislav Rogic defended Sandhu saying when teams struggle to get out of their back third, it can lead to goalkeeper making mistakes. But that was not the case against Afghanistan where Sandhu conceded a penalty at home. One that may have made the difference between India playing Bangladesh in Shillong and being at the high table of Asian football in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers having already sealed a berth in the 2027 Asian Cup.
There were glaring mistakes at Bengaluru FC though 2024-25: dropping the ball against Chennaiyin FC and leaving his line and punching to a Jamshedpur FC player and being lobbed are but two of them. Bengaluru FC did not start him in all their games even when they were battling for a spot in the top six.
Given that they do not get enough time to train, national team coaches tend to stick to players they know. Igor Stimac had said as much explaining why he would keep the faith in Sandhu even after Prabhsukhan Gill won the ISL's golden glove. But this was coming.
“He’s the best”
So, as Sandhu recalibrates, this is an opportunity for Vishal Kaith to make his season even better. Kaith is the only India goalkeeper regularly playing in front of crowds in excess of 30,000 (it was over 50,000 in the match Mohun Bagan retained the league shield) so he can handle pressure. The fastest to 50 clean sheets in ISL history – it took him 138 matches – Kaith started 23 of Mohun Bagan Super Giant’s 24 matches in ISL11. Jose Molina gave Dheeraj Singh his only start after the league shield was won.
“He’s the best in my mind,” Molina said before playing Mumbai City away. For the Mohun Bagan head coach, Kaith has been doing a “great job” from the beginning, “making good saves in key moments”. Kaith has had the advantage of a solid backline and a star-studded team that has rarely been under pressure since the 3-0 win against Mohammedan Sporting in October but, conversely,that also makes the job difficult given that games tend to happen away from him a lot of the time.
Barring the brain fade against Odisha FC, Kaith has not made a big error in ISL11. A save percentage of 81.3, the best in the season and 14 clean sheets is proof.
Kaith, 28, has been among India’s top three goalkeepers since his return to the squad in November 2023 after being first picked in 2017. But through Asian Cup campaigns, World Cup qualifiers and friendlies, it has mostly meant time on the bench. He’s been through the school of hard knocks but the 3-0 win against Maldives could be a change of guard, like it was in 2015. And while no match is easy, Bangladesh are unlikely to bombard Kaith’s goal like Iran did. In the peculiar way that football sometimes joins the dots, it could happen in Shillong, a city where it began for him.
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