Luck will favor Manpreet Singh-led Indian men’s hockey team in Tokyo: Dhanraj Pillai

Legendary striker Dhanraj Pillai, who has been a part of the Indian men’s hockey team for four consecutive Olympic Games, feels luck may lie with the Manpreet Singh-led Indian men’s hockey team in Tokyo.

Dhanraj, 52, said, “We had the best team every time between 1992 and 2004, but unfortunately we could not finish the game at the top. I think the mistake we made at every Olympic Games was that we went into the mind-set of aiming for the finals rather than taking them match-by-match.

There is less than 10 days left for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Meanwhile, hockey legend Dhanraj, in the eleventh article of Hockey India’s flashback series, recalled interesting anecdotes from his maiden Olympic Games in 1992 and missing a semi-final berth at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Dhanraj, who was selected in the 1992 Olympic team coached by Balkrishna Singh after making his India debut in 1989, shared anecdote saying, “I was a junior in the team. Ajit Lakra and I were probably the youngest players on that team for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. It was always my dream to play in the Olympics. I worked really hard for this. People started recognizing me from 1989 onwards. In 1989 I played the Asia Cup in Delhi (where India won silver) and then we went to Holland, where I really made a mark. We beat Pakistan 4-2, it was a good tournament for me and from there I never looked back.

52-year-old Dhanraj said, I played right-out and center forward. I saw Jude (Felix) a lot. He was a very stylish player, I used to watch his game before joining the Indian team. Jude used to play for Southern Railway and it was a wonderful experience to be a part of the Indian team consisting of such great players. Pargat was a very strict captain and was always serious during practice. Sometimes it used to happen that if we were lethargic, he used to scold us.