A Case Study on Padama Shree Dhanraj Pillay – a Legendry Hockey Player of India

Padama Shree Dhanraj Pillay was born on 16 july, 1968 in khadki near Pune. He is the fourth son of Tamil parents Nagalingam Pillay and Andalamma As his name suggest –A man who will get gold i.e. Dhan and rule i.e. Raj. This Would have come true in Sydney Olympics – had Indian coach Bhaskar and Mr. Gill had not broken winning combination of senior players of 1998 Asian games. He has been former captain of the Indian hockey team. Dhanraj moved to Mumbai in the mid-eighties to join his elder brother Ramesh, who was playing for RCF in the Mumbai League. Ramesh had already played for India in international matches and his guidance helped Dhanraj to develop as a speedy striker. He then moved over to Mahindra & Mahindra where he was tutored by Indian coach, Mr. Joaquim Carvalho. At the age of 17, Dhanraj played in the Junior National hockey tournament held at Manipur. He got a chance to play at Sanjay Gandhi Tournament in 1987 held at Delhi, and further played his first senior National hockey tournament in 1988 at Delhi. It is said that he used to cover 100m of distance in just 11.6 seconds and due to this, he became famous as “Toofan” (Tornado) in the hockey fraternity. Mr. Joquim Carvalho, the famous hockey player and Coach noticed the talent of Dhanraj and invited him to join Mahindra & Mahindra team at Mumbai. At Mahindra & Mahindra, Dhanraj got a chance to play with the internationally renowned players like Marcellus Gomes and Mark Patterson and honed his skills under their guidance.

As per the requirement and nature of the Study, a Case Study was designed to explore the biography, sports achievements and contributions made to the country by Dhanraj Pillay in the field of hockey. A survey type case study was considered appropriate to explore in information on various aspects of the case which is the subject matter of the present empirical investigation. The information regarding Dhanraj Pillay about his life has been taken from the various newspapers, official record of IHF and HFI, sports magazines and Wikipedia at the internet. The pictorial record was obtained from internet. The data collected from primary and secondary sources was analysed qualitatively as well as quantitatively by descriptive statistics.

1. Biography of Dhanraj Pillay: -

Dhanraj Pillay’s father, Nagalingam Pillay was a worker in the Khadki ammunition factory and he was maintaining a big family. The youngest member of the Pillay family, Dhanraj Pillay started to play hockey from his early childhood on the Khadki ammunition factory grounds, along with some other youngsters. He used to play hockey with a few broken sticks put together with sutali (gunny-sack strings). The ground was actually a meeting place for the boys of Khadki. His elder brother Ramesh, was playing for RCF in the Mumbai League, When he started learning hockey in his native place.

He was a regular schoolgoer in his childhood and was considered as a mediocre student in his school. Dhanraj Pillay did his schooling from the Sugra Vilasi Sabha (SVS) School in Khadki and he was more interested in playing rather than studies. Though he was not a brilliant student in his school. But his teachers loved him because of his obedience to them and excellence in the field of sports. The school had a very small ground but Dhanraj did not mind honing his skills on the school ground, said Sridharan Thamba, his classmate. “The school provided the perfect launching pad for Dhanraj. I would say that school played its part in shaping the personality of Dhanraj Pillay. Some of the teachers who taught Dhanraj are still serving in the school. Agnes Paul, who taught maths and English, recalled that Dhanraj was always inclined towards sports and had little interest in academics. The teachers did not discourage Dhanraj. We were always supportive and knew that one day the enthusiastic lad will make it big way. It gives us great privilege that our school gave a hockey player of international class to Indian team,” she said.

The elder brother of Dhanraj, Ramesh used to play for a Club in Mumbai and introduced him to professional hockey for the first time. Dhanraj showed his commendable capabilities in the first match itself, and was spotted by the sport veterans and Coaches at Mumbai in the first glance. At the age of 17 years, Dhanraj played in the Junior National Hockey Tournament held at Manipur. He got a chance to play at Sanjay Gandhi Tournament in 1987 held at Delhi, and further played his first National Hockey Tournament in 1988 in the same city. famous as “Toofan”(Tornado) in the hockey fraternity. Joquim Carvalho, the famous hockey player and Coach noticed the talent of Dhanraj and invited him to join Mahindra & Mahindra team at Mumbai. At Mahindra & Mahindra, Dhanraj got to play with the internationally renowned players like Marcellus Gomes and Mark Patterson and honed his skills under the able guidance of Carvalho. 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 him as well as leading staticians in the world. His mother, whom he gives all the credit for his success, encouraged all her five sons to play hockey despite leading a hand-to-mouth existence. Dhanraj Pillay’s wonderful skill in the game of hockey was first recognised in a match in Mumbai. Once the club was falling short of one member in the team and Ramesh sent an urgent letter to Dhanraj to join him in the club, as soon as possible. Dhanraj played in the match as a substitute player and he easily got noticed by the coaches, as he was playing with his natural enthusiasm and great ability of playing good hockey. After that Dhanraj continued playing Hockey and he got his first big break, when Joaquim Carvalho requested him to join Mahindra & Mahindra. Dhanraj Pillay spent some successful years playing hockey in the club level and he got exposure in the national circuit, when he played wonderfully in the 1987 Sanjay Gandhi Tournament in Delhi. He played as a right-out in his team and he did beat the famous hockey player, Rajinder by his extraordinary speed. The spectators named him as Toofan for his wonderful ability of running on the turf in bullet speed. Dhanraj Pillay played well throughout the tournament and he eventually won the title as the best player of the tournament. After the successful tournament, he once again got noticed during the National Hockey Championships in New Delhi in the year 1987. Dhanraj met another young and talented hockey player, Harendra Singh during the tournament and both of them were desperate to play for the national team of India. Dhanraj Pillay made his debut in the International hockey with Allwyn Asia Cup hockey tournament held at New Delhi in the year 1989. He played his first International match against the team of China on the 20th of December 1989. He played as a substitute for Ram Prakash Singh in the match and he easily caught the eyes of the spectators. After this, he

In the domestic circuit, he has played for teams like Indian Airlines, Mahindra & Mahindra, city Mumbai. He has represented India in many international fixtures apart from the Asian and Olympic Games. In 1994, he was selected for the World XI team. In addition, he has played for many foreign clubs like Indian Gymkhana, London, FC Lyon, France, Selangor Kuala Lumpur, Abhahani Ltd. Dhaka, Stuttgart Kickers, Stuttgart Bank, Simpanan National, Kuala Lumpur, Arthur Andersen Kuala Lumpur, Ernst and Young, Kuala Lumpur and many other notable clubs. The details of number of tournament Dhanraj Pillay had played at National level is presented in table no. -1

It is evident from the above table that Dhanraj Pillay played 12 national championships over a period of 19 years. His team had won 3 time championship and had won 2nd position for six times in the national tournaments. The critical analysis of performance of Indian team at various International tournament during his captainship of Dhanraj Pillay is presented in table no. – 2.

It is evident from the above table that Indian Men hockey team won 1st place four times out of 12 times participation at international competition under the captainship of Dhanraj Pillay. The success rate was 33%. It is also to state that the team won 2nd place only once under his captainship. The team also won 4th place in the commonwealth games in 1998 and championship trophy in 2003. It is also clear that Indian team lost two test series in the year 1998 against Germany and Pakistan under his captainship. was playing as member of Indian hockey team is given in table no. 3.

The above table clearly reveals that Indian hockey team won eight times Gold medal out of 13 tournaments from 1998 to 2004 while Dhanraj Pillay was the member of Indian team as player and got silver and bronze medal 2 times each at international tournaments. The success rate of Indian team was 61.53% for getting 1st position. The success rate of Indian team was 15.38% for getting 2nd position and 23.07% for 3rd position. The analysis of data regarding number of international tournament being played by Dhanraj Pillay are given in table no. - 4.

It is evident from the above table that Dhanraj Pillay participated in 53 international tournaments from 1989 to 2004 at various places in the world. His team had won 11 time championship and had won 2nd position for six times and won 3rd position for 4 times at the international tournaments. The success rate was 20.75% for 1st position, 11.32% for 2ndposition and 7.54% for 3rd position respectively.

records available is presented in table no. 5.

The analysis of the above table clearly reveals that Dhanraj had scored 72 goals against various teams in various tournaments at international competition from 1990 to 2004. The analysis of data regarding total number of times Dhanraj Pillay played from various foreign clubs is given in table no. 6.

It is also very much clear that Dhanraj Pillay played for 10 foreign clubs as a player from 1992 to 2005.

The Track Records of Dhanraj Pillay is regarded as 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 captainship. He has also been honoured as the highest goal scorer in the Bangkok Asian Games and he was the only Indian player during the 1994 World Cup held at Sydney to figure in the World Eleven side. The total number of prestigious award received by Dhanraj Pillay are given in table - 7

The table clearly reveals that Dhanraj Pillay has been awarded with the highest Khel Award i.e. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Padma Shree, Arjuna award, K.K. Birla award and Bharat Ratna Dr. Ambedkar Award by the various agencies for being the best player of India in hockey who had performed very excellently in all the international matches in the world. 1. It may be concluded that Padma Shree Dhanraj Pillay is the first Indian hockey player to receive highest award like Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in the history of Indian hockey. 2. It may be also concluded that Padma Shree and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Dhanraj Pillay has been able to create record in the field of hockey in India by being caption of Indian team in 1998 and he led India to an Asian Games which won gold medal after gap of 32 years, scoring 11 goals. Dhanraj was the highest goal scorer in the Hockey event at Bangkok Asian Games in 1998. 3. It may be also concluded that Padma Shree and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Dhanraj Pillay has been the only Indian player to appear in the World Eleven team at Sydney World Cup Tournament 1994. 4. It may be also concluded that Padma Shree and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Dhanraj Pillay is regarded as 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) in the history of Indian Hockey. 5. It may be also concluded that Padma Shree and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Dhanraj Pillay also served as the Captain of the Indian Hockey team for six years. 6. It may be further concluded that his parents and family support played very significant role in promoting his skills in Hockey to win Padama Shree and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. 7. It is also concluded that Dhanraj Pillay played for ten foreign clubs as a player of India. 8. It is also concluded that he has contributed a lot for promotion of sports, especially hockey in India. 9. It is also concluded that he is a role model for junior hockey players both within the country and abroad. 10. It is also concluded that he is very friendly, co-operative, has a lot of patience, perseverance, hard working and disciplined hockey Player of India. 1. Dewar, John D. “The life and professional contribution of James Naismith.” Completed Research health, Physical Education and Recreation. Vol. 8, 1966. 2. Frederick, K. & Mary M, Naturalism : the philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau and its implications for American Physical Education “ Complete research in health physical education and recreation. Vol. 6, 1964. 3. Freeman, W.H. “A Biographical Study of William Jay Bowerman”, Completed research in Health, Physical Education and Recreation. vol.16.1974. 4. Hill, S.A. The Life of Jassie Reed Garrison Mehling and Contributions to Health, Physical Education and Recreation. Completed Research in Health, Physical Education and Recreation. Vol.14. 1972. 5. Lumpkin, A. “Contribution of women to the History of Competitive Tennis in the United States of America “, (1874 to 1974), Completed Research in Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Vol.7, 1974. 6. Carmon, B.R. “Biography of Jose De Jesus Clarke Flores: A Man of Honour’s”, Dissertation Abstract International. 42:2, 4315-A. 1981. 7. Herman, S.S. “A study of the life, professional, career and contributions to interscholastic athletics in Texas of Prince Elmer Shotwell”, Dissertation Abstract International. 35:1, 246-A. 1973. 8. Hotchkiss W. P. “The Life And Professional Contribution of Michael Pappe to Physical Education and Aquatics”. Dissertation Abstract International. Vol.-31. No.11, 1971. 9. James, L.D. Biographies of Great Leaders in Physical Education, Health and Recreation. Dissertation Abstracts International. 50:12 Pune. 1990. 10. Jerry, S.D. John H. Scolinos: A Coach for Life. Dissertation Abstracts, International. 48:6:1412A. 1987. 11. Leonard, R.G. “The Life and Professional Contribution of Milton F. Hartvigsen. Dissertation Abstracts International 42:2, 602-A. 1981.

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