Just a couple of years ago, the goalkeeping position was spoken of as the strongest for the Indian men's football team. There was good reason to believe so - Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Amrinder Singh were well-established in the Indian Super League; Phurba Lachenpa emerged with a splash for Mumbai City FC; Vishal Kaith kept winning Mohun Bagan penalty shootout after penalty shootout. The national team had an embarrassment of riches in terms of options between the sticks.
How quickly do things change, then? On the evidence of this season, it won't just be bad selection if Manolo Marquez chooses to stick with seniority for the India's upcoming games in March. It would be self-sabotage if Kaith isn't given the no.1 position. Outside of Kaith, the goalkeeping in the ISL this season has been a jamboree of one comical error after another. When Marquez picks his squad for next month's AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh, for once, the focus won't be entirely fixed on that eternal question about Sunil Chhetri's successor. Is the time now ripe for Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's successor?
Kaith is the ISL's best goalkeeper by a distance
He's played every minute of Mohun Bagan's ISL season so far. He's only conceded 14 goals in those 19 games. Perhaps, what should tilt the scales in Kaith's favour is how assured he has looked in all of those outings. He has had the least work to do of any goalkeeper in the league, on average facing 3.84 shots on target per game, and has conceded an average of only 0.7 goals per game.
That is, by far, the best of any goalkeeper in the league. Of course, that Mohun Bagan have had the best defence in the league has played its part. It would be disingenuous, though, to ignore that Kaith has been almost flawless in a season when the number of goalkeeping errors has surged through the roof.
According to Opta, Kaith's 3.2 goals prevented this season is by far the best of any goalkeeper in the league. In fact, only him and Hrithik Tiwari have prevented more goals than they were expected to. In contrast, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Amrinder Singh, India's first two choice goalkeepers until the last international break, sit at -7.9 and -4.2 respectively on the same metric. In simple terms, Kaith saves what he's supposed to and more, while India's other options... do not. Worse, they let in goals from shots they ought to save.
Gurpreet's dramatic downfall
It's not preposterous to say that Gurpreet has cost Bengaluru FC a more sustained title race (even if the club does have other issues). They may or may not have caught this machine of a Mohun Bagan side. They certainly have had their wings clipped by the incumbent India no.1's worst season of his club career.
No other goalkeeper has made more errors directly leading to goals than Gurpreet (Amrinder has made as many as him). No one has made more errors directly leading to shots than Gurpreet. Perhaps more damning than all of that is that there have been errors of all kinds. Anything that could go wrong for a goalkeeper has gone wrong for Gurpreet this season.
Against FC Goa in November, he was dispossessed by a pressing striker in his own box. Against NorthEast United in that same month, he came charging out of his area, but hit his clearance against an onrushing attacker. Against Chennaiyin FC in December, he failed to catch a straightforward header. Against Jamshedpur FC in January, he came way off his line and then didn't catch the ball or punch it convincingly.
So, he's not saving shots, not catching crosses, not playing the ball out of the back well enough, and not judging danger well enough. It's not sacrilege to suggest he's lucky to still be starting games for Bengaluru. One must wonder what else Lalthuammawia Ralte needs to go his way to get a start for them.
These mistakes aren't isolated to just his club. Gurpreet made a bad mistake in judging the bounce of a long ball in India's last friendly against Malaysia, too. This after being at fault for the first goal that India conceded in the AFC Asian Cup last year, when he didn't catch a cross. These mistakes and below-par performances have become a familiar sight, and his position as India no.1 has never been under more scrutiny.
Younger prospects not pushing their case either
The veterans in Gurpreet and Amrinder have been poor, so what about the youngsters then? Maybe not as poor, but hardly encouraging. Phurba Lachenpa has found himself stuck in a bit of a rut. Even though he's not made the number of glaring errors that Gurpreet or Amrinder might have, he's also not saving shots at the rate that he should be, having conceded 2 goals more than Opta's data expected him to.
Bhaskar Roy at Mohammedan SC was responsible for one of the most comical own goals the sport has ever seen, when he punched the ball into his own net. Kerala Blasters' Sachin Suresh, so impressive in his debut season last term, now makes the same mistake time and time again - spilling low shots right into the danger area in front of him.
An error Bhaskar Roy won't enjoy ��
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Hrithik, given a go by Marquez at FC Goa this season to replace Laxmikant Kattimani early on, has been quietly impressive. But in a crunch game against Jamshedpur FC, he too made a poor error, letting a meek shot through him, with his body not behind the ball at all - what some would consider a fundamental error for a goalkeeper.
The likes of Lachenpa, Sachin and Prabhsukhan Gill have all shown in the ISL that they are promising goalkeepers. However, the bug has caught them all. Nobody is stopping shots at the rate they are expected to. Indian goalkeeping finds itself at a low that few saw coming, but a bulk of these goalkeepers are still very young, and it is a role where a lot of players do become better with age.
There are some potentially excellent goalkeepers in India, none more so than Vishal Kaith. The time has never been more ripe for him to be given the national team's reins.