Indian football team goalkeeper Gupreet Singh Sandhu revealed he had a hard time after being dropped from the national team earlier this year and that he had to stay patient.

No goalkeeper has defined Indian football in the last decade quite like Sandhu. A towering presence between the posts, he has carried the responsibility of being India’s No 1 for years, earning more appearances and more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in India’s history. His heroics, whether for club or country, have often turned him into the hero of the night.

Yet the 33-year-old found himself facing one of the toughest moments of his career last season. For someone who has built his reputation on consistency and leadership, a dip in form saw him being excluded from the squad. In March and June, Gurpreet was absent from India’s fixtures, raising doubts about his international career.

For any footballer, losing a starting spot is disappointing but understandable but for a senior professional of Sandhu’s stature, to be out of the national team fold was a crushing blow. It left him questioning his future.

“Should I just call it a day? Like, am I not doing enough? Maybe I don’t have the thing that everyone wants. That’s why I’m not there. It was a very hard time, to be honest, because you don’t get to make peace with it,” he said in an interview with Firstpost.

“You want to say a lot of things. But you can’t, you need to wait for the right moment. And that’s what I did at that time, wait for my time.”

But change was around the corner. Khalid Jamil took charge as India’s new head coach in August, becoming the first Indian to hold the position since 2012. Jamil’s arrival meant fresh ideas, a reset in approach and a renewed opportunity for Sandhu.

“When the call came, I was not pleasantly surprised, but was relieved somewhere,” he said.

Sandhu quickly reminded everyone of his quality. At the CAFA Nations Cup, he saved a penalty in India’s win against Tajikistan and was decisive in the shootout against Oman, denying the final spot-kick to secure another statement victory and a bronze finish for the Blue Tigers. For a player who had gone through months of doubt, those moments were validation.

India’s triumph at the CAFA Nations Cup gave the squad belief and offered Jamil the perfect start to his tenure. But Sandhu insists that celebrations cannot cloud the bigger objective. The Blue Tigers have two crucial AFC Asian Cup qualifier games in October, beginning with Singapore and the preparations are already underway in Bengaluru.

“I don’t remember the last time we as a national team went outside to play a tournament and ended up with a medal. So it’s a pretty big achievement. But obviously, we have bigger things on the agenda, which is trying to get to the Asian Cup,” he said.

“So, although good things have happened. We can’t lose focus and just keep remembering the good days. When it matters, hopefully, everyone is ready and we get the good results and move on.”

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