Being a product of the Pune FC Acdemy, he played for the Pune FC senior team in 2011. After spending 5 seasons at the club, he made 30 appearances for the club. He has had troubling time with injuries that marred his career-building for a long time. In 2014 at a Durand Cup game, Dhanapal scored Pune FC’s first goal.
The Tamil-Nadu born defensive midfielder made his India debut against Nepal in the FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. In his first game of the I-League 2016-17 season, he displayed a performance that shows promise to his career coming back on track after injury kept him out.