Sahal Abdul Samad

In the 2018–19 season, Sahal was included in the starting 11 of the season opener against ATK in which Blasters won by 3–0. He made a total of 17 appearances from 18 matches during the season. He provided one assist and scored his first goal for the club against Chennaiyin FC on february 15. Sahal improved his passing capability and made 688 touches over the course of the season. He was one among the top Indian players with most no of key passes in the season. But lack of effective strikers affected teams scoring capability. Despite club's poor campaign in the 2018–19, Sahal enjoyed his breakthrough season and went on to win ISL Emerging Player of the Season. He was also announced as the AIFF Emerging Player of the Year. On 11 May 2019, Sahal signed a contract extension with Kerala Blasters which tied him to the club till 2022.

In the 2019-20 ISL season, Blasters appointed Eelco Schattorie as the manager. Under him, Sahal founded it difficult to adapt into new conditions. As the season progressed, the team's injury problem became so concern that Sahal was forced to move from his natural attacking midfielder position into winger position and sometimes he was even used as Secondary striker. He started in most matches as right midfield. Mostly it affected his performance but was able provide 2 assists in the season.

Sahal has been called up for the India U23 football team for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers. Sahal made his debut on 11 March 2019 against Qatar U23 in a friendly ahead of the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers.

Sahal was named in the preliminary squad of the senior team in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, but didn't make it into the final squad. In May 2019, he was named in the squad for 2019 King's Cup. He made his debut on 5 June 2019 in a 3–1 loss against Curaçao in the 2019 King's Cup. He was also involved in India's unsuccessful 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Sahal's performance during 2017 Santosh Trophy was noted by scouts of Kerala Blasters. He got his first ever professional contract from Blasters as they signed and put him on the reserve side for the 2017–18 I-League 2nd Division. In the 4th match against FC Kerala he was appointed as the captain for the rest of the season. He scored 7 goals from 10 games and became 3rd top scorer in the league. As the senior team was struggling with points in the 2017-18 Season of ISL, manager René Meulensteen decided to promote some youth players to the senior side, among them Sahal was promoted. Due to team's poor performance, Rene was sacked after the match and David James took over for the rest of season. Sahal was not included in the squad for the next 5 matches. But he was again called up to side and remained as unused sub in next 2 matches. Finally he debuted for the senior side by coming as a substitute for the Manchester United legend Dimitar Berbatov in the 80th minute of a match against ATK which ended up in a draw. He was also given one more chance in the 90th minute of the match against Bengaluru FC.

Sahal completed his 14 years of schooling from New Indian Model School in Al Ain. He started to play football at the age of 8. In 2010, Sahal joined the Al-Ethihad-Sports Academy to pursue his dream in professional football. After completing his studies in UAE, he moved to his native place Kannur in Kerala to complete his degree and to focus on university football. A few months after starting his degree, he was spotted by coach Siddique of SN College in Kannur who convinced him to switch colleges. After good performances at University-level tournaments, he soon found a place in the district U-21 side, and then the Kerala team for the Santosh Trophy.

Sahal Abdul Samad (born 1 April 1997) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters and the Indian national team.