V R Raghunath's Indian Hockey Player Biography: Personal life, awards, photos and more!
V R Raghunath has more under his shoes than what you know... Here we give you more reasons to like him! Read the Indian Hockey player V R Raghunath's Biography. Also check out V R Raghunath photos, V R Raghunath age, V R Raghunath achievements and V R Raghunath awards..!
V R Raghunath's Indian Hockey Player:
Vokkaliga Ramachandra Raghunath, born on 1st of
November 1988 is an Indian field hockey player from Hathur, Kodagu,
Karnataka. He plays as a defender for
the Indian Team. He made his prominence at the senior Indian men’s team in 2005
and also represents the Uttar Pradesh Wizards in the HIL since 2013 where he
was bought for 76,000 USD. He is also a successful captain to this club. Raghunath
made his debut for India in the sub-junior side in the 2003 sub-junior Asia Cup
in Dhaka where India won.
VR Raghunath's Initial Career, Game-play..!
Raghunath's entry to hockey was because of his father V.S.Ramachandra who himself is a former Indian hockey player. Raghunath's starting career was slow because of the presence of the seniors' Sandeep Singh, Ignace Tirkey who played a vital role in the Indian team's defence. But that phase was soon gone as Raghunath made some intensive practice to endure his drag-flicking as well the dribbling skills. Raghunath nowadays can be seen as a complete player with his tactical defending skills , dribbling skills and with his additional ability to trigger the forwards in the 25 yard circle with his long range,powerful slap-shots.
VR Raghunath's Journey in Hockey
He made his senior debut in the national side during the
series in 2005 against Pakistan. In 2005, he was a part of the bi-lateral
series against Pakistan where India won. Preceding which in 2007, he was
actively involved in the Indian team in the Sultan Azlan Cup in Ipoh where they
won the bronze medal, but they kept improving in this particular tournament
wherein 2008, they won silver and following which they won the gold medal in
2009 in the same tournament. He was very dedicated in the Asia Cup in 2007 as
well as 2013 where India won gold and silver subsequently. In 2013 Asia Cup was
a huge moment for Raghunath since he won the best player Award in that tournament
due to him scoring 6 goals in that series. Despite him being one of the pillars
for the Indian team, he always has a humble approach , as said by him ,”I won’t like to take my credit myself –
actually all the team members deserve credit – we play as a unit and try to
make the most of each player’s strengths. Our defence has been working hard and
all team members have played their role in our defence looking strong. Of
course, there is still room for improvement.”
In the 24th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2015, VR Raghunath was
instrumental in converting a penalty corner to help India score 2-2 against
South Korea. He scored the goal in the 56th minute of the game. When Rupinder
Pal was excluded from the Hockey World League, Raghunath was the only drag-flicker
in the side selected by the manager. He was very grateful for this chance to be
the only penalty corner specialist in the side.
“I will be taking
maximum shots when I am in. Else, we will try variations from indirect shots.
It is a challenge for us as a team, but we are taking it in a positive way.”
Raghunath said.
He was the top goal-scorer in the recent Test series against
Australia in the same year. He continues to show his efforts and dedication as
a drag flicker and his hardworking attitude has definitely paid off. Raghunath
was one of the key men who made the biggest difference in achieving India's
silver medal in the Hockey Champions Trophy 2016. He has come up to be one of
the most skilled players in this position and solely scored 129 goals against
Germany on the first day of the Champions Trophy. Numerous penalty corners were
contributed by Raghunath. His performance against Australia with this amount of
goals is one of the most cherished examples of his outstanding gameplay.
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| Sreejesh tweeted: "I ask Raghu to approach the umpire with a smile... See how obedient he is" :P |
In the
Six Nations Invitational 2016, Raghunath was the one who opened the scoring of
India in the 18th minute where India drew the match against Spain. In
preparation for the Rio Olympics 2016 with no less than a week left, captain’s
role will be shared by multiple senior members of the side so as to reduce some
workload off Sreejesh’s shoulders. “From
now on, we will share captaincy. Sreejesh is the captain but he will never wear
the band during matches. Sardar, Raghunath, Sunil and Manpreet will wear it. We
worked on the group of captains to make sure on and off the pitch, more
responsibility is taken up by more players." Raghunath was given this
responsibility earlier and potential was seen in him being a senior player and he’s
been depended upon to aid the team in leading Indian to success. He has been
one of the Integral part of the Indian team’s defence and is considered to be
one of the best drag flickers in the country, so let’s hope for the best
results with his contribution to the team.
