Birendra Lakra (born 3 February 1990) is an Indian professional

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

player. He represents India in men's field hockey and recently came out of retirement alongside Rupinderpal Singh and will be the Captain of Indian team in the Asia Cup to be held in

Jakarta, Indonesia Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

. In

Tokyo 2020 The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

also, he had been selected as Vice Captain of Indian team. Lakra's elder brother Bimal has played as a midfielder for India. His sister Asunta Lakra has played for India's women's hockey team and has captained the side and in 2021 he was awarded with Arjuna award.

Personal life

Birendra Lakra was born on 3 February 1990 in the village of Lachchada in the

Sundargarh District Sundargarh District is a district in the northwestern part of Odisha state in eastern India. Sundargarh district is bounded by Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh in the west, Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh in the North-West, Simdega district o ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

, on the border with

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

. He was born to a family belonging to an Oraon tribe.

Career

Birendra Lakra is a player for the Rourkela Steel Plant's SAIL Hockey Academy. He was included in the Indian junior team for the first time for the Singapore tour in 2007. He represented India in the Test series against South Africa in 2012, in the Champions Challenge tournament in South Africa in 2011, at the SAAF Games at Dhaka in 2010, at the Youth Olympics at Sydney in 2009 and at the Junior World Cup at Singapore in 2009. He scored the first goal in India's victory in the final game of the Olympic Hockey Qualifying Tournament against France. He played a key role in taking India in to the semifinals of 2012 Champions Trophy. India defeated Belgium with the help of a single goal that was produced by the pass given by Birendra Lakra to the forward. With this India reached the semifinals of the Champions Trophy for the first time in eight years. At the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, Lakra won a silver medal with India.

Hockey India League

In the auction of the inaugural

Hockey India League Hockey India League (HIL), known as the Coal India Hockey India League is a professional field hockey league in India. The league is organized by Hockey India, the governing body for the sport in India. HIL, along with the Indian Premier League, ...

season, Lakra was bought by the

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

franchise for US$41,000 with his base price being US$9,250. The Ranchi team was named

Ranchi Rhinos Ranchi Rhinos (abbreviated as RR) was a field hockey team based in Ranchi, Jharkhand that played in the Hockey India League. The team won the inaugural season of Hockey India League defeating Delhi Waveriders by 2-1. It is owned by Patel-Uniexc ...

. The team finished first in the inaugural season and third in the 2014 season. Following disputes between the franchise and

Hockey India Hockey India plans, directs and conducts all the activities for both men and women hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India. It w ...

, the team decided to pull out, after which Lakra signed with the

Ranchi Rays Ranchi Rays (RCR) is an Indian field hockey team based in Ranchi, Jharkhand that competes in the Hockey India League (HIL). It was announced as the newest team to replace the defunct Ranchi Rhinos on 25 October 2014. It is owned by Indian cric ...

franchise from the 2015 season.

References

External links

Birendra Lakra
at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lakra, Birendra 1990 births Living people People from Sundergarh district Field hockey players from Odisha Indian male field hockey players Male field hockey defenders Olympic field hockey players of India Field hockey players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2020 Summer Olympics 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2014 Asian Games Field hockey players at the 2018 Asian Games 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup players Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Asian Games medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Olympic bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in field hockey Recipients of the Arjuna Award