Birendra Lakra (born 3 February 1990) is an Indian former

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player. He represented India in men's field hockey and recently came out of retirement alongside Rupinderpal Singh and captained the Indian team in the men's tournament of field hockey at the 2018 Asian Games, held in

Jakarta, Indonesia Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, winning a bronze medal. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics also, he also served as the vice-captain of Indian team.

Personal life

Birendra Lakra was born on 3 February 1990 in the village of Lachchada in the

Sundargarh District Sundargarh District is a Districts of Odisha, district in the northwestern part of Odisha States and territories of India, state in eastern India. Sundargarh district is bounded by Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh in the west, Jashpur district o ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

, on the border with

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

. He was born to a family belonging to an Oraon tribe.

Career

Birendra Lakra is a player for the Rourkela Steel Plant's SAIL Hockey Academy. He was included in the Indian junior team for the first time for the Singapore tour in 2007. He represented India in the Test series against South Africa in 2012, in the Champions Challenge tournament in South Africa in 2011, at the SAAF Games at Dhaka in 2010, at the Youth Olympics at Sydney in 2009 and at the Junior World Cup at Singapore in 2009. He scored the first goal in India's victory in the final game of the Olympic Hockey Qualifying Tournament against France. He played a key role in taking India in to the semifinals of 2012 Champions Trophy. India defeated Belgium with the help of a single goal that was produced by the pass given by Birendra Lakra to the forward. With this India reached the semifinals of the Champions Trophy for the first time in eight years. At the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

, Lakra won a silver medal with India.

Hockey India League

In the auction of the inaugural

Hockey India League Hockey India League is a professional field hockey league in India. It is organized by Hockey India, the governing body for the sport in India. It is considered one of the major sports leagues of the country. It was founded in 2013 as a part ...

season, Lakra was bought by the

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

franchise for US$41,000 with his base price being US$9,250. The Ranchi team was named

Ranchi Rhinos Ranchi Rhinos was a professional field hockey team based in Ranchi, Jharkhand, that played in the Hockey India League. The team won the inaugural season of Hockey India League defeating Delhi Waveriders by 2-1. It was owned by Patel-Uniexcel Gro ...

. The team finished first in the inaugural season and third in the 2014 season. Following disputes between the franchise and Hockey India, the team decided to pull out, after which Lakra signed with the Ranchi Rays franchise from the 2015 season.

References

External links

Birendra Lakra
at Hockey India * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lakra, Birendra 1990 births Living people People from Sundergarh district Field hockey players from Odisha Indian male field hockey players 21st-century Indian sportsmen Male field hockey defenders Olympic field hockey players for India Field hockey players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2020 Summer Olympics 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup players Field hockey players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2014 Asian Games Field hockey players at the 2018 Asian Games 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup players Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games bronze medalists for India Asian Games medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games silver medallists in field hockey Olympic bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in field hockey Recipients of the Arjuna Award Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games