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Dhanraj Pillay (born 16 July 1968) is a retired Indian
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 ...
player and former captain of the Indian national team. He also looks after the Air India Sports Promotion Board as a Joint Secretary based in Mumbai. For the last 5 years, Dhanraj is overseeing the SAG Hockey Academy in Gujarat funded by the Gujarat Government. He is widely regarded as one of the best Indian players of hockey. Pillay born to a
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...
family made his debut in 1989 with the national team and in a career spanning over 15 years, appeared for India in four
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
, World Cups and Champion Trophies each. He made 339 appearances for the national team and is recorded, unofficially, to have scored 170 goals. He also played for clubs in countries such as
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
and
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. Recognizing his achievements, he was awarded the
Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...
by the government of India in 2000.He joined
Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (; AAP) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India, as one of the national political parties. The AAP was founded in November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions following the 2011 Indian ...
in February 2014 and started his political career.


International career

Dhanraj Pillay, whose career spanned from December 1989 to August 2004, played 339 international matches. The Indian Hockey Federation did not keep official statistics for the goals scored. There is no credible information on the number of international goals scored by Dhanraj. He scored around 170 goals in his career, according to both him and leading statisticians in the world. He is the only player to have played in four Olympics (1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004), four World Cups (1990, 1994, 1998, and 2002), four Champions Trophies (1995, 1996, 2002, and 2003), and four Asian Games (1990, 1994, 1998, and 2002). India won the Asian Games (1998) and Asia Cup (2003) under his captaincy. He was also the highest goal scorer in the Bangkok Asian Games and was the only Indian player to figure in the World Eleven side during the 1994 World Cup at Sydney.


Club Hockey

He has also played for foreign clubs like the Indian Gymkhana (London), HC Lyon (France), BSN HC & Telekom Malaysia HC (Malaysia), Abahani Limited, HTC Stuttgart Kickers (Germany) and Khalsa Sports Club (Hong Kong). Towards the end of his career, Dhanraj played in the
Premier Hockey League Premier Hockey League (PHL) was a professional field hockey league competition for clubs in the top division of the Indian hockey system. There were seven teams in the PHL. The competition was held every year from 2005 until 2008. History The ...
for the
Maratha Warriors The Maratha Warriors were a field hockey team from Maharashtra, India that competed in the now defunct Premier Hockey League. Team Lineup Players Squad Note: The list of players was obtained from the PHL website. The list may change in t ...
for two seasons. Dhanraj Pillay turned up for the Karnataka Lions in the
World Series Hockey World Series Hockey (WSH) was a professional league for field hockey competition in India. It was organised by Indian Hockey Federation and Nimbus Sports with the objective to reinvigorate hockey in India. It was contested among eight franchis ...
being played in India. He scored two goals for his team, captained by ex-India captain
Arjun Halappa Arjun Halappa (born 13 December 1980) is a professional Indian hockey player and former captain of Indian Hockey Team. Career Midfield maestro Arjun Halappa is the son of former East Bengal Hockey Club player B. K. Halappa, He hails from K ...
. He also played for Indian Airlines in
Beighton Cup Beighton Cup is a field hockey tournament organized by Hockey Bengal (formerly the Bengal Hockey Association). Instituted in 1895, it is one of the oldest field hockey tournaments in the world and is held every year at Kolkata. History Aristocr ...
. He is currently the coach of the same team.


Awards

He is the recipient of India's highest sporting honour, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award for the year 1999–2000. He was awarded the
Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...
, a civilian award in 2001. He was the captain of the
1998 Asian Games The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games and the XIII Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 ...
and 2003 Asia Cup winning hockey team. He was awarded the player of the tournament award in the 2002 Champions trophy held at
Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, Germany. In 2017,
East Bengal Club East Bengal Club, commonly referred to as East Bengal (), is an Indian professional multi-sport club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is best known for its professional men's football team that competes in the Indian Super League, the top ...
conferred Pillay with Bharat Gaurav award.


Politics

He joined
Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (; AAP) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India, as one of the national political parties. The AAP was founded in November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions following the 2011 Indian ...
in February 2014 and started his political career.


Controversies

Dhanraj is often described as mercurial and has had his share of controversies. Time and again, he has vented this ire against the Hockey Management. He was not selected for the Indian team after the triumph at the Bangkok Asiad. The official reason given was that Dhanraj and 6 other senior players were rested. But it was largely seen as a retaliation for his outburst against the management for improper reception and non-payment of match fees. He protested against the low team stipend on overseas tours before the 1998 series against
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. On receipt of the Khel Ratna, Pillay commented, "The award will help erase some bitter memories". His plans to start a hockey academy at Mumbai have not taken off fully as Mumbai Hockey Association has refused to allow its astroturf facility to be used for training.


Biography

Pillay's biography, ''Forgive Me Amma'', written by journalist Sundeep Misra, who tracked his career for over two decades, released in 2007.


References


External links

*
Dhanraj Pillay's career statisticsBio
at dimdima.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillay, Dhanraj 1968 births Living people Male field hockey forwards Olympic field hockey players of India Field hockey players at the 1990 Asian Games Field hockey players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1994 Asian Games Field hockey players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1998 Asian Games 1998 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2002 Asian Games 2002 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Khel Ratna Award Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Tamil sportspeople Field hockey players from Pune Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Games medalists in field hockey World Series Hockey players Indian male field hockey players Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games silver medalists for India Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games 1990 Men's Hockey World Cup players