Dhanraj Pillay
Indian field hockey player

Indian Khadki near Pune in Maharashtra, India

Quick Info

Profession	Indian field hockey player
Nationality	Indian
Date of Birth	16/07/1968
Age	57 years
Birthplace	Khadki near Pune in Maharashtra, India

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Bio/Wiki

Full Name	Dhanraj Pillay
Famous For	Former Captain of the Indian National Field Hockey Team

Physical Stats & More

Height	173 cm
Weight	65 kg
Eye Color	Dark Brown
Hair Color	Black

Personal Life

Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Cancer
School	The S V S High School, Khadki

Relationships & More

Marital Status	Unmarried

Family

Father

Nagalingam Pillay

Mother

Andalamma

Siblings

Brother	Ramesh Pillay and 3 more
Sister	Not Known

Spouse

N/A

Children

None

Career

International Debut	On 20 December 1989 against China at the Allwyn Cup held in New Delhi
Position	Forward
Domestic/State Team(s)	Indian Airlines, Mahindra & Mahindra, City Mumbai
Coach/Mentor	Leslie Claudius (Mentor)
Records	The only Indian to play in 4 Olympics, 4 World Cups, 4 Champions Trophy and 4 Asian Games Under his captaincy, India won the Asian Games (1998) and the Asia Cup (2003) Highest goal scorer in the Bangkok Asian Games Only Indian player to figure in the World Eleven side during the 1994 World Cup
Awards, Honours, Achievements	Recipient of The Arjun Award (1995) Recipient of The Padma Shri (2001) East Bengal club conferred him with Bharat Gaurav (2017) Recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (1999-2000) Player of the Tournament at the 2002 Champions Trophy held in Cologne, Germany

Favourites

Favourite Hockey Player(s)	Ramesh Pillay Mohammed Shahid Zafar Iqbal
Favourite Sportsperson(s)	Saina Nehwal M.S Dhoni Viswanathan Anand

Some Lesser Known Facts

1. Dhanraj Pillay was born into a humble family.
2. As a child, he played hockey using broken sticks and old hockey balls on a muddy field.
3. His elder brother, Ramesh Pillay, was also a hockey player.
4. Moving to Mumbai as a young man, Dhanraj learned to excel in hockey under Ramesh's guidance.
5. Throughout his career from 1989 to 2004, he played 339 matches and scored approximately 170 goals.
6. Pillay began his political journey by joining the Aam Aadmi Party in February 2014.
7. He is proficient in Marathi, Tamil, Hindi, and English.
8. He played for clubs in Malaysia, France, England, and Germany.
9. He set up the Dhanraj Pillay Hockey Academy and ran it for 10 years before closing it due to lack of funds.
10. He was nicknamed 'Toofan' (tornado) for his extraordinary pace and aggressive attacking style.
11. He was the fourth of five sons in his family.
12. He retired after the Athens Olympics in 2004 at the age of 36.

Information on this page is collected from public sources and may not be 100% accurate. Report an error

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