Former India hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay was awarded with the East Bengal football club’s highest honour “Bharat Gaurav” on their foundation day. The ceremony was held on August 1, 2017.
Dhanraj Pillay has played a huge role in reviving the Indian team and performed brilliantly during his 15-year career, representing the country in four Olympics, World Cups, Champions Trophy and Asian Games. He played total 339 matches for India, scoring 170 goals. He led India to Asian Games glory in 1998 and also won the Asia Cup in 2003. Pillay also received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for his remarkable performance in 1999-2000 and was later awarded the Padma Shri and civilian award in 2000.
