Die-hard Dhanraj

Born, July 16, 1968, with no silver spoon in his mouth, Dhanraj grew up the hard way in Kirkee, near Pune. Growing up as one of five siblings, the talented youngster found a lot of support from hockey afficionados despite being finanacially insecure. He remembers the days of the struggle and the contributon made by his mother, Andanamma.

"I had to struggle unlike most of our players. We didn't have money to buy hockey sticks. But hockey was in my family's blood, so my brother and I used to play with broken sticks after tying them with rope," he had once said.

The hard work and passion paid off when, as a 21-year-old he made his debut for India in 1989, at the Asia Cup.

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