Komal Thatal (born 18 September 2000) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for

Jamshedpur FC Jamshedpur Football Club (, ) is an Indian professional football club based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian Football. Founded in 2017, the club debuted in Indian Super League during t ...

in the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

. Thatal has represented India in the U-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017.

Career

Born in

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

, Thatal began playing competitive football in 2011 when he joined the Namchi Sports Academy of his native state. He spent three years at the academy before being advised by his coach to attend trials for the

AIFF Elite Academy The AIFF Elite Academy is the elite academy of the overall AIFF Academies. Started on 1 February 2013, the Elite Academy was started under a youth development project that was started between the AIFF and FIFA. The Elite Academy is the final fro ...

and India U17 side which would play in the

2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 17th FIFA U-17 World Cup, a biennial international football tournament contested by men's under-17 national teams. Organised by FIFA, the tournament took place in India between 6 and 28 October 2017, after the ...

. After impressing the coaches, Thatal joined the academy and team.

ATK

After the U-17 World Cup, Thatal decided against joining the rest of his teammates with

Indian Arrows Indian Arrows (formerly known as Pailan Arrows) was an Indian developmental football club that competed in the I-League. The club was formed by the All India Football Federation in 2010, with a main goal of nurturing young Indian football tal ...

, a development team which was to play in the

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

. Instead, Thatal joined

side ATK for the 2017–18 season. He made his professional debut for the club on 28 January 2018 in their match against

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...

. Aged just 17 years and 132 days, Thatal became the youngest footballer to play an Indian Super League match. He came on in stoppage time towards the end of the match as ATK were defeated 1–0. Thatal made only two appearances for ATK in the entire season. ATK retained Thatal for the following 2018–19 season. He made his first start for ATK on their opening fixture of the season against

Delhi Dynamos Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

which ATK won 1–2. On 31 October 2018, Thatal scored his first goal for ATK in the 15th minute against

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. However, ATK lost the game 1–2.

ATK Mohun Bagan

After the merger of ATK and

Mohun Bagan AC Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

, Thatal signed a two year contract on a permanent deal basis. He made his debut for the club on 21 January 2021 at the 89th minute in their league match against

Chennaiyin FC Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural season o ...

, winning 1–0.

Jamshedpur FC

On 20 August 2021, it was announced that Thatal has signed a 3-year contract with

. He scored his first goal on 9 December against

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

in their 4–2 defeat.

International

After passing the trials in 2014, Thatal joined the India U17 side which was to play in the

in India. On 21 September 2017, Thatal was announced as part of the final 21-man squad for the U-17 World Cup. Thatal played in India's first match in the World Cup against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

but was not included in the squad for India's final two matches in the tournament. He has also played for the India U-23 and U-20 teams respectively. He represented India in the Asian Cup U23 Qualifiers.

Career statistics

Honours

ATK *

: 2019–20

References

External links

Komal Thatal
at ''the-aiff.com''
Komal Thatal
at ''Indian Super League'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Thatal, Komal 2000 births Living people Footballers from Sikkim Indian Gorkhas Indian footballers AIFF Elite Academy players ATK (football club) players Association football midfielders Indian Super League players India youth international footballers ATK Mohun Bagan FC players Jamshedpur FC players