Dhanraj Pillay, a name that changed the definition of hockey itself. He played such magic on hockey field that such magic was never seen again. He was born in a middle-class family on 16 July 1968 at a place called Pundi, near Pune. He is the fourth child of his parents. His parents named him Dhanraj after considering some miracle and when he grew up, he also proved his name correct.
When Dhanraj was growing up, hockey was a more popular sport in India. He was fond of hockey since childhood and due to financial constraints, he used to play hockey from a broken pole. Dhanraj is called Sachin Tendulkar of hockey. In 1989, Dhanraj made his hockey debut at the age of 21. His hockey career was around 15 years. He won a lot of accolades from his skills in the World Cup, the Olympics, the Asia Cup and the Echo-Africa hockey.
The Indian Hockey Federation never held the record for Dhanraj's goal of making international hockey from the Asia Cup in New Delhi. Although he still admits that he has scored a total of 170 goals in 339 international matches. He has a record of playing in 4 Olympics. He is the only hockey player who participated in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics. The Indian hockey team won the Asian Games and the Asia Cup under the captaincy of Dhanraj Pillay in 1998 and in 2003. Talking about the awards, he was awarded the country's highest sports award Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in the year 1999-2000 for his brilliant game. In the year 2000, Dhanraj was also awarded the Padma Shri, a civilian honor.
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