Dhanraj Pillay

Born: 16 July 1968

He is a retired Indian field hockey player and former captain of the Indian national team.
He currently serves as the manager of the team.
He is also a member of the ad hoc committee of the Indian Hockey Federation, formed after the suspension of Kanwar Pal Singh Gill.
As a player, he is regarded one of India’s best ever.
He born to a Tamil 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, 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, France, England and Germany.
Recognizing his achievements, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the government of India in 2000.
He is the recipient of India’s highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for the year 1999–2000.
He was awarded the Padma Shri, a civilian award in 2001.
He was the captain of the 1998 Asian Games and 2003 Asia Cup winning hockey team.
He was awarded the player of the tournament award in the 2002 Champions trophy held at Cologne, Germany.
In 2017 East Bengal club conferred Pillay with Bharat Gaurav.
He is currently involved in trying to start a hockey academy at Mumbai.
To raise funds for his academy he is heading a drive to collect empty plastic printer cartridges in Mumbai and sell them to a European recycling firm.