Vishal Kaith (born 22 July 1996) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Indian Super League club

ATK Mohun Bagan ATK Mohun Bagan FC () is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club, which was formed as a merger between the football section of m ...

and the India national team.

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.

Club career

Shillong Lajong

Vishal Kaith joined

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong FC (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya, that competes in the Shillong Premier League. The club was established in 1983 with the prime objective of improving the declining st ...

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 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 ...

and was adjudged as the Man of the Match. Kaith would go on to obtain the Man of the Match award in his second first team appearance against Mohun Bagan. 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. He saved penalty which was taken by

Sunil Chettri Sunil Chhetri (born 3 August 1984) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both Indian Super League club Bengaluru and the India national team. Widely regarded as the greatest Indian footballer of all time, he ...

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 ...

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 Thangboi Singto (born 14 June 1974) is an Indian professional football manager who is the head coach and technical director of Indian Super League club Hyderabad. Born on 14 June 1974, he did his schooling from Don Bosco School, Tura, West Ga ...

, 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

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 Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional Association football, football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Football in India, Indian football. The club was founded in Au ...

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

on a three-year deal.

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

Honours

ATK Mohun Bagan * Indian Super League:Winner

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

India *

SAFF Championship The South Asian Football Federation Championship, commonly known as SAFF Championship (previously known as ''South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation Gold Cup'' and ''South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup''), is the main international ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual * Indian Super League Golden Glove:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:kaith, Vishal Indian footballers India international footballers 1996 births Living people People from Shimla district Shillong Lajong FC players I-League players FC Pune City players Indian Super League players Footballers from Himachal Pradesh India youth international footballers Association football goalkeepers 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Chennaiyin FC players