Dhanraj Pillay

Dhanraj Pillay was born on 16th July 1968 to a Tamil family in Khadki in Pune, Maharastra. He was an Indian hockey player who captained the Indian National team. He made his international hockey debut in 1989 and played for the country for 15 years. Dhanraj had played in 339 matches for India and scored 170 goals. As the Indian Hockey Federation didn’t have official statistics for the goals scored by the players, only approximate numbers are shown. However, as per the statisticians, Dhanraj had scored these many goals. He also had some records with him and that relates to the statisticians' info. Dhanraj participated in Olympic Games, Champion Trophies and World Cups, representing India. Besides playing for India, he also played for the clubs in France, Malaysia, Germany and England.

Dhanraj Pillay is the only hockey player from India, representing the country in four Olympics, four Champions Trophies and four Asian Games. He took part in the Olympics in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004; Champions Trophies in 1995, 1996, 2002 and 2003 and Asian Games in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002. With his efficient captaincy, Dhanraj brought the winning trophies of the Asian Games in 1998 and the Asia Cup in 2003 to India. In the Bangkok Asian Games, he was the highest scorer. In the 1994 World Cup held at Sydney, Dhanraj Pillay was the only Indian player who was chosen for the World Eleven side.

In 2000, he was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and in 2001, he received the honorary Padma Shri Award. In 2002, he received the Player of the tournament in Champions trophy held at Cologne in Germany. East Bengal Club awarded him Bharat Gaurav in 2017. In 2007, Forgive Me Amma, a biography on Dhanraj, was released. Sundeep Mishra, a popular journalist, penned it. Dhanraj Pillay is also the coach of the Indian Airlines team. He is the Joint Secretary of Air India Sports Promotion based in Mumbai. He is overseeing the Gujarat Government-funded SAG Hockey Academy. In 2014, he joined the Aam Aadmi Party and entered into politics.