Anirudh Thapa

Anirudh Thapa (born 15 January 1998) is an Nepali descent indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Minerva Punjab in the I-League on loan from Chennaiyin of the Indian Super League.

Born in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, Thapa began playing football at the age of ten at the St. Stephen's Football Academy in Chandigarh. After spending time with the India under-14 side, Thapa was selected to join the AIFF Regional Academy in Kalyani in 2012. As he moved up the national youth team ranks, Thapa was moved into the AIFF Elite Academy where he became captain of the side in the I-League U19. In April 2016 Thapa, along with four other players, was selected to join French Ligue 2 side Metz on a short training-stint which was sponsored by Indian Super League side Chennaiyin.

In November 2016, due to the injury of Dhanachandra Singh which ruled the defender out for the rest of the ISL season, Thapa was put into the Chennaiyin squad as a replacement. He made his professional debut for the team in the side's final match of the season against Goa. He started the match and played 67 minutes.

After the conclusion of the 2016 ISL season, Thapa signed with Minerva Punjab of the I-League on loan for the 2016–17 season.

Thapa first represented India at the under-14 level. He was part of the under-16 side that won the 2013 SAFF U-16 Championship and participated in the qualifiers for the AFC U-16 Championship. Thapa then went on to represent the under-19 side in the SAFF U-19 Championship.

As of 27 December 2016