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The 5th edition of the Indian Super League ended last Sunday with a thrilling final where Bengaluru FC emerged victorious, winning their first ever ISL title. Sunil Chhetri and co laid to rest the ghosts of last season's final, where they had narrowly lost out to Chennaiyin FC. It was right back Rahul Bheka who scored the winner in the 117th minute after the game had gone into extra time.
This ISL season has seen several positives for Indian Football, with many youngsters making their mark with splendid performances. The ISL has had a massive impact on the Indian National team setup as well with mercurial ISL finds like Anirudh Thapa (Chennaiyin FC) and Aashique Kuruniyan (FC Pune City), both just 21, having already nailed down starting spots in the team during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. 21-year-old Kerala Blasters' playmaker Sahal Abdul Samad was declared the emerging player of the year thanks to his electric displays in midfield. Other big finds of this season include Delhi Dynamos' talented attacking midfielder Lallianzuala Chhangte (21), FC Goa shot stopper Mohammed Nawaz (19), Kerala Blasters' and India U17 Goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh (18) and FC Pune City defender Sarthak Golui (21).
Perhaps no position is as crucial to a winning team than the goalkeeper. While the Golden Glove for Best goalkeeper was won by foreign keepers in ISL Season 1 and 2, the Indian Goalkeepers came roaring back to take home the title in ISL Season 3 and 4. This season was no different with most teams electing to play an Indian goalkeeper between the sticks. Season 5 saw National team mainstays like Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Amrinder Singh face late bloomers like Pawan Kumar and Naveen Kumar as well as young challengers in Mohammed Nawaz and Dheeraj Singh. Let us see what the season stats say. Who will be among the top 5 Indian Goalkeepers of ISL Season 5?
Also see : EPL Transfer News, Copa America Standings, Womens World Cup Bracket.
#5 Amrinder Singh (Mumbai City FC)
Coming in at No.5 is Indian international Amrinder Singh. The 25-year-old custodian was in imperious form throughout the tournament as Mumbai City finished 3rd, conceding just 20 goals, the second best defensive record in the league.
Amrinder, who has earned 3 caps with the Indian National side, is a product of the Punjab Government-run Sports Wing Academy. The 6' 1" shot-stopper has great reach and flexibility and it wasn't long before he signed his first professional contract with Pune FC in 2011. His first ISL contract came in 2015 with Atletico Kolkata. After stints with the Kolkata giants and Bengaluru FC, the Punjabi lad has settled down in Mumbai City FC and seems destined to be the club talisman for more years to come. He won the Golden Glove Award in ISL 2016 with a career-best season performance.
His 2018-19 season statistics are sensational-he has a 74.15% save rate and has pulled off a whopping 66 saves from 19 matches played, the highest for any goalkeeper this season. He is also joint top along with Gurpreet for most clean sheets - keeping seven shutouts over the course of the season.
Amrinder was India Under-23's starting goalkeeper at the 2014 Asian Games and captained the Under-23 team for the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers.
He eventually graduated to the senior team and made his full international debut against Mauritius in 2017. He was part of the Indian team that went to the 2019 AFC Asia Cup but was restricted to a bench role as Bengaluru's Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was the preferred choice between the sticks.
Also See : Durand Cup, Durand Cup Schedule, Calcutta Football League
#4 Subrata Pal (Jamshedpur FC)
India's Spiderman. Undisputed first choice goalkeeper for India until the emergence of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu a couple of years ago, Subrata Pal is still as good as ever at age 32.
With over 67 caps for the Indian national side, Subrata leveraged his experience and guide a very average Jamshedpur FC side to 5th in the 2018-19 ISL standings, conceding just 21 goals, third best defensive record in the league this season. He had previously won the Golden Glove for the best goalkeeper in the 2017-18 ISL season.
A graduate of the Tata Football Academy, Subrata became the first Indian Footballer to join a 1st Division club of any European country when he was signed by Denmark club FC Vestejaelland in 2012. The legendary Pal has given India many golden moments including victories in the 2007 & 2009 Nehru Cups, the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup and was given his now famous nickname of ''Spiderman'' by the press for his heroic saves during the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The legend continues to set the gold standard for the youngsters with his age-defying performances in the ISL
#3 Pawan Kumar (NorthEast United)
North East United finished 4th in the ISL 2018-19 season thanks in no small part to the heroics of their 228-year-old shot stopper Pawan Kumar. Thanks to Kumar, the Highlanders had the best defensive record of any of the team, conceding a meagre 18 goals.
Pawan Kumar came through the ranks of JCT FC, Air India and Salgocar before moving to Bengaluru FC in 2013. After having an inconsistent start to his ISL career with forgettable stints at Bengaluru FC and Chennaiyin, Pawan has come to the fore under the coaching of Eelco Schattorie at NortEast United. The 28-year-old Gurdaspur native is yet to be capped at International level and this season's performance is sure to push his case in that regards, especially with reserve Indian International keeper Vishal Kaith not making a mark at ISL Season 5. Pawan is second only to Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (0.95) in terms of goals conceded per game-his number a miserly 1.06.
#2 Naveen Kumar (FC Goa)
Unsurprisingly, the goalkeeper of the losing ISL Finalist, FC Goa, finishes at No.2 in the goalkeeper standings. And being No.2 to Indian National team mainstay Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is nothing to be ashamed about. 29-year-old Naveen Kumar has never been capped for the senior Indian National side but was part of the Indian Under-23 setup in his younger days.
A native of Hoshiarpur, Punjab, Naveen made his name at JCT FC and thereafter with Churchill Brothers. After joining the ISL with FC Goa in the 2017-18 season, he was sold to Kerala Blasters in 2018 who loaned him back to the Gaurs for the 2018-19 season. And the return spell has been nothing short of spellbinding. Naveen conceded a paltry 15 goals all season, with an incredible 80 seconds minutes per goal ratio and the third best save percentage at 69.38% (after Sandhu and Amrinder Singh).
No.1-Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
Image source: https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/isl-semifinals-race-for-golden-glove-top-5-goalkeepers-this-season/5
India's Number 1 had a terrific ISL season leading the pack with top-of-the-league numbers in terms of save percentage (an incredible 76.25%), minutes-per-goal (96.32 mins) and goals conceded per game (a paltry 0.95). The 6 6' Punjab native guided Bengaluru FC to their first ISL title in what is only their second season in the league and won the Golden Glove for Best Goalkeeper of the season.
Gurpreet honed his game at the St Stephens Academy and thereafter with East Bengal. He is also the first Indian to play a competitive match for a top-division European club, having done so with Norweign side Stabæk, with whom he played from 2014 to 2017
Gurpreet was the undisputed starting goalkeeper for India at the 2019 AFC Asia cup and impressed with his commanding displays between the sticks in the tournament. He dominated the box in the ISL as well, finishing with a jaw-dropping 133 catches (second best a distant 86 by Amrinder Singh) and 7 clean sheets (joint 1st with Amrinder Singh). Gurpreet is now perhaps as crucial a part of the Indian national team as Sunil Chhetri and many feel he is destined to become the Indian captain soon. At 27, he is in the prime of his career and Bengaluru FC and India are sure to reap more rewards of his prowess in goal.
