Vishal Kaith
Vishal Kaith (born 22 July 1996) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan SG and the India national team.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Vishal Kaith | ||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 22 July 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Rohru, Himachal Pradesh, India | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Mohun Bagan SG | ||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2014 | AIFF Elite Academy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2017 | Shillong Lajong | 34 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | → Pune City (loan) | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Pune City | 21 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | Chennaiyin | 49 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Mohun Bagan SG | 24 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2016 | India U19 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | India U23 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018– | India | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:30, 18 March 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17:30, 15 September 2018 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||||
Youth years
Having come up through the state level ranks for Himachal Pradesh, he was recruited by the AIFF to play for the under-16 and under-19 national sides before joining the AIFF Elite Academy in 2011 to play under-19 national league, before being picked up by Shillong Lajong.[1]
Club career
Shillong Lajong
Vishal Kaith joined Shillong Lajong after spending a year at the AIFF Elite Academy in 2014 and made his official debut in the second game of his teams' 2014-15 Indian Federation Cup against Salgaocar and was adjudged as the Man of the Match.[2] Kaith would go on to obtain the Man of the Match award in his second first team appearance against Mohun Bagan.[3]
Kaith made his senior I-League debut on 28 March 2015 against Sporting Goa but was sent off in the 2nd-half for a handball outside the box.[4] He saved penalty which was taken by Sunil Chettri against Bengaluru in Federation Cup. Kaith showed good progress in pre-season for the new season and he became a pivotal part of the club and started all matches for Lajong in 2015-16 I-League season.
Under the guidance of Thangboi Singto, Kaith became the first choice goalkeeper for Shillong Lajong in entire season. He started in all matches and kept half a dozen important clean sheets.
Pune City (loan)
On 25 May 2016, Indian Super League club Pune City signed Kaith on loan from Shillong Lajong for the third edition of league where he would be a squad 'keeper and would make no appearances during the season.
Chennaiyin
On August 31, 2019, Vishal Kaith signed for Chennaiyin on a long-term permanent deal with the club after spending the previous three seasons at Pune City.
ATK Mohun Bagan FC
In June 2022, Vishal Kaith signed for ATK Mohun Bagan on a three-year deal.[5]
International career
Youth
Kaith was handed his India U19 debut on 4 October 2013 against Qatar U19 in 2014 AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers. Kaith kept first clean sheet for India U19 against Nepal U19, in which India U19 defeated Nepal U19 by 1–0. In July 2017, Kaith represented India U23 in AFC U23 Championship Qualifiers which held in Qatar.
Senior
Kaith was called for India team camp before AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers match against Kyrgyzstan on 13 June.
Style of play
Kaith is a talented, complete, aggressive, and often instinctive goalkeeper, who is recognized for his reflexes, prowess, and anticipation when coming off his line in one on one situations, as well as his confidence, goalkeeping technique, reactions, and ability to get to ground quickly to collect, parry, or even challenge for the ball with his feet; when playing in teams that rely upon high defensive lines, he has often functioned as a sweeper-keeper, frequently rushing out of his area to clear the ball or face opponents who have beaten the offside trap.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 28 March 2023[6]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | AFC | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Shillong Lajong | 2014–15 | I-League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015–16 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | 18 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | |||
| Shillong Lajong total | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
| Pune City (loan) | 2016 | Indian Super League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Pune City | 2017–18 | 17 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| Pune City total | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
| Chennaiyin | 2019–20 | Indian Super League | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| Chennaiyin total | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | ||
| ATK Mohun Bagan | 2022–23 | Indian Super League | 24 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| Career total | 128 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 136 | 0 | ||
- Appearance(s) in Federation Cup
- Appearance(s) in Super Cup
- Appearance(s) in Durand Cup
- Appearance(s) in AFC Cup
References
- "Shillong Lajong FC - Official Website - Vishal Kaith". Shillonglajong.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- Press Trust of India (31 December 2014). "Salgaocar FC edge past Shillong Lajong 2-1". Business-standard.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- Gupta Vishal (6 January 2015). "Impressive Mohun Bagan finish their campaign with 1-0 win over Shillong Lajong". Sportskeeda.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- "Welcome to All India Football Federation". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- "Goalkeeper Vishal Kaith completes move to ATK Mohun Bagan". Khel Now. 23 June 2022. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- Vishal Kaith at Soccerway
- ISL Media Team (19 March 2023). "Hero ISL 2022-23: A list of all individual and team awards at the end of the season". indiansuperleague.com. Indian Super League. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023.
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