Introduction

1. Dhanraj Pillay (धनराज पिल्लै) (born 16 July 1968) in Pune, is a field hockey player and former captain of the Indian hockey team.

2. He is currently the manager of the Indian Hockey team.

3. Also he is a member of the adhoc committee of Indian Hockey Federation, formed after the suspension of Kanwar Pal Singh Gill.

4. Dhanraj Pillay was born at Khadki near Pune in Maharashtra. He is the fourth son of Tamil parents Nagalingam Pillay and Andalamma. As a bachelor, he lived in Powai, Mumbai, while his parents continued to live in Khadki. He is fluent in Tamil ( his Mother tongue), Hindi, English and Marathi.

5. Dhanraj Pillay's debut in international hockey was in 1989 when he represented the Nation in the Allwyn Asia Cup in New Delhi.



International career

1. Dhanraj Pillay, whose career spanned from December 1989 to August 2004, played 339 international matches.

2. The Indian Hockey Federation did not keep official statistics for the goals scored.

3. There is no credible information on the number of International goals scored by Dhanraj.

4. He scored around 170 goals in his career, according to him as well as leading staticians in the world.

5. 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).

6. India won the Asian Games (1998) and Asia Cup (2003) under his captaincy.

7. 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.



Awards

1. He is the recipient of India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for the year 1999-2000.

2. He was awarded the Padma Shri, a civilian award in 2000.

3. He was the winning captain of the victorious Asian Games 2002 hockey team.

4. He was awarded the player of the tournament award in the 2002 Champions trophy held at Cologne, Germany.

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