Kunal Sawant (born 23 August 1986) is an Indian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

playing 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 ...

for

Kenkre FC Mumbai Kenkre FC (also known as Kenkre Football Club) is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 2000, the club currently competes in MFA Elite Division of Mumbai Football League, and ...

Early life

Kunal Sawant was born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and completed his schooling at Don Bosco High School, Borivali. He was well-known for his love of sports. Ever since his school days, Sawant was popular for maverick traits in the field of sports; he was a keeper (

wicketkeeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

) for the school's

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

teams.

Amateur league

Soon after schooling, Sawant was selected for Goans Sports Club (a local club in Mumbai, playing in the First Division) and played with them from 2002 until 2003. He was later selected to play with

Mahindra United Mahindra United Football Club (formerly known as Mahindra & Mahindra) was an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 1962, the club competed in the I-League, then top tier of Indian football league system, befo ...

U-19 team and had a brief stint of exposure to play at the Indian

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. From 2004 until 2009, Sawant played for

New India Assurance The New India Assurance Co. Ltd., is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. "It is the largest nationalised general insurance company of India ...

(Super division),

Dena Bank Dena Bank was a government-owned bank that in 2019 merged with Bank of Baroda. It was headquartered in Mumbai and had 1,874 branches. The bank was founded in 1938 as a privately owned Bank. In 1969 the Government of India nationalized ''Dena Ban ...

(Super division),

Union Bank of India Union Bank of India, commonly referred to as Union Bank or UBI, is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Mumbai. It has 120+ million customers and a total business of US$106 billion. After the amalgamation with Corporation Bank and An ...

(Elite division) and Central Railway (Elite Division). Kunal Sawant (4)

Professional league

In 2009,

Bimal Ghosh Bimal Ghosh (born 29 June 1956) is an Indian former footballer and the current head coach of Tollygunge Agragami. Coaching career Air India During the first ever National Football League season in 1996–97, Ghosh was the coach the Air India F ...

initiated Sawant into India's professional football circle, to play for

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...

’s football team. Two years later, on Thursday, 3 February 2011, Sawant found himself at the cusp of an end to his career owing to an on-field injury during a match against

Salgaocar F.C. Salgaocar Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Vasco, Goa, that competes in the Goa Professional League. They have also played in the I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system. Founded in 1956, the clu ...

while playing in an

match. Medical professionals advised Sawant that his hand would recover gradually, but his career never would. However, Sawant made a comeback on 28 October 2012 with

Mumbai F.C. Mumbai Football Club was an India, Indian professional association football, football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competed in the I-League, then top flight of Indian football league system, alongside the Mumbai Football League, MDF ...

in the

. Sawant also represented

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Santosh Trophy The Santosh Trophy, officially known as Hero Senior Men's National Football Championship due to sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp, is a state-level football competition contested by the state associations and government institutions under ...

tournament in 2009, 2010 and 2012. During 2015

season hiatus, 4

players -

Climax Lawrence Climax Lourenco Lawrence (born 16 January 1979) is a retired Indian professional football midfielder. He last played for FC Bardez in the Goa Professional League in 2017. National team In 2002, he was called to the India national football team ...

(Former India Captain),

Nicholas Rodrigues Nicholas Rodrigues (born 9 September, 1982) is an Indian footballer who currently plays for Mumbai F.C. in the I-League. He most notably won the NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that co ...

, Valerian Rebello and Sawant, were invited to play for Tuff Laxmi Prasad Sports Club on a short-term contract in the

Goa Professional League The Goa Professional League (abbreviated as GPL, also known as the Selvel Goa Pro League for sponsorship reasons) is the premier state-level football league in Goa, India. It is organised by the Goa Football Association. History The official l ...

Indian Super League (ISL)

In June 2016, Sawant signed a contract with

Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (; ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the all time highest run-scor ...

Kerala Blasters FC Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established ...

to be the team's goalkeeper for the 2016

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 ...

finished the tournament by securing the second position. Presently, Sawant is playing for

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawant, Kunal 1986 births Living people Indian footballers Footballers from Mumbai Mumbai FC players Don Bosco schools alumni Association football goalkeepers