How many clean sheets have India kept in the last decade?

Since 2005, the Indian national football team have won several laurels like the SAFF Championship (2005, 2009, 2011, 2015), the AFC Challenge Cup (2008), the Nehru Cup (2007, 2009, 2012) to name a few. During this period, the Blue Tigers have kept 44 clean sheets out of 155 matches (28.38 %).  

Subrata Paul became the India’s custodian in goal in the 2007 Nehru Cup, taking over the mantle from Sandip Nandy, and in that very tournament, he was adjudged the best goalkeeper. One of the most memorable performances came in the final where he put up an impressive show to keep Syrian attacks at bay and helped India clinch their maiden Nehru Cup title by a narrow 1-0 margin. 

In the next year, India won the AFC Challenge Cup to secure participation in the AFC Asian Cup 2011, and in that tournament, they kept two clean sheets against Afghanistan and Myanmar respectively. Although the Asian Cup 2011 campaign ended in disappointment, Paul stood out with his heroics under the sticks. 

However, in the same year, India won the SAFF Championship and Karanjit Singh kept three clean sheets including one in the final against Afghanistan. But Paul returned to the fray soon enough in the next edition of the Nehru Cup in 2012 and helped India clinch the title for the third time. India enjoyed the services of the Kolkata-based keeper till the earlier half of the 2010s and he was ably succeeded by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. In his career, the former India international has kept 20 clean sheets. 

In the last few years, India have managed to eke out some historic results against superior teams like China and Qatar and on both occasions, there was one common element; Gurpreet Sandhu. Against Marcello Lippi’s China, India held their shape and frustrated the likes Wu Lei and Yu Dabao and the Bengaluru FC keeper brought out his A-game to get a clean sheet away from home. He was protected by a back-four which comprised of Narayan Das, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose, and Pritam Kotal. 

Similarly against Qatar, India held on to a 0-0 scoreline at the Jassam Bin Hamad stadium, which is one of the remarkable results in Indian football history. After the match, Qatar’s coach Felix Sanchez went on to comment, “it was India’s goalkeeper who denied us the three points.” To date, Sandhu has 14 international clean sheets to his name.

India will return to action in international football when they face Bangladesh on Monday in the SAFF Championship 2021 at the National Football Stadium in Male. Before that, we take a look at all the clean sheets that India have kept in the last decade.