Anil Alexander Aldrin (born 22 August 1971) is a player of the Indian Men's National field hockey team. His family hailed from Kerala in a place named Murukanpuzha in Trivandrum. He played as a defender for India from 1992 to 1999 and captained the country during his last years in 1999. He competed in the men's tournament at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

at Atlanta. He also played in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

in 1994 and 1998, winning the gold in his second appearance at Bangkok, and he represented India in Champions Trophy in 1995 and 1996 at home in Madras. He also played two World Cups in 1994 in Sydney and under coach

Vasudevan Baskaran Vasudevan Baskaran (born 17 August 1950) is a former field hockey player and coach from Tamil Nadu, India. He captained the India, which won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, then part of the Soviet Union. Thereafter he c ...

in 1998 at Utrecht, the Netherlands. He serves as the Sports Director at Vidyashilp Academy, Bengaluru, India.

Career

Anil Aldrin had his schooling at

St. Joseph's Boys High School , motto_translation = Faith and toil , established = , type = Private primary and secondary school , denomination = Jesuits , religion = Catholicism , gender = , faculty = , principal = Fr. Sunil Fernandes , enrollment = 3,300 , a ...

in Bangalore and started his hockey playing career after joining the Sports Authority of India hostel for boys under well-known coach PA Rafael. He also completed his B.Com from St. Joseph's College, Bangalore. Anil Aldrin and Sandeep Somesh were in the class of 1988 at St.Joseph's school, along with Indian cricket player

Rahul Dravid Rahul Sharad Dravid (; born 11 January 1973) is an Indian cricket coach and former captain of the Indian national team, currently serving as its head coach. Prior to his appointment to the senior men's national team, Dravid was the Head of ...

, who also played hockey in his school days. Later, in his playing days, Aldrin was compared to Rahul Dravid and was called as the `Wall of Indian hockey' for his defending skills. Other hockey players who went on to play for India like Sabu Varkey, Sandeep Somesh and Ravi Nayakkar were his teammates in the hostel under the same coach. In 1990s he was recruited by Indian Airlines which later became known as Air India, one of the top domestic outfits in India. In 2022, Aldrin secured a formidable leadership role at the prestigious Vidyashilp Academy, training and leading over 2,500 young athletes.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldrin, Anil Alexander 1971 births Living people Indian male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players for India Field hockey players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Field hockey players from Kerala Field hockey players from Bangalore Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games silver medalists for India Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in field hockey Field hockey players at the 1994 Asian Games Field hockey players at the 1998 Asian Games 1998 Men's Hockey World Cup players