A decade ago, Shilanand Lakra was training to become a priest. But fate had something else planned for him.
Growing up in one of the remotest villages in Odisha’s Sundergarh district, where hockey is a way of life and electricity rare, Lakra has overcome the grief of the untimely demise of his father, ridden over professional setbacks and dealt with the uncertainties that threatened to derail his career in the last 10 years to emerge as one of the most exciting prospects in Indian hockey.
On Sunday, Lakra, 26, lifted the Asia Cup, which India won after a gap of eight years by dethroning South Korea 4-1 in a lopsided final. In a tournament where the hosts found new heroes in every match, and had multiple goal scorers in the games that mattered, Lakra stood out with his alacrity, selflessness and the ability to win the ball high up the field to create chances for his teammates.
In a tournament where every team packed their defences against India — conscious of their attacking flair — Lakra showed astute positional sense to beat his markers, and was willing to throw his body on the line to get to the end of the passes and beat the goalkeeper.
“He has got natural ability, he is quick, he can press, he can score, he can pass, he can dodge,” India coach Craig Fulton said. “When he is comfortable and in his right place mentally, you will see him shine.”
The country’s hockey circles had been waiting to ‘see him shine’ from the time Lakra made his senior debut in 2018 as a teenager. He came with a lot of buzz, for he was a rare breed — a forward from Sundergarh, a hockey conveyor belt that has produced some of the world’s best defenders, from Michael Kindo to Dilip Tirkey.
“When people think of Odisha, or Sundergarh, they think of defenders. That’s the reputation the region gained,” Tirkey, India’s most-capped player who is now the Hockey India president, told The Indian Express.
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The players from the tribal belt, Tirkey said, have always had the reputation of being clean tacklers, calm-headed, with an ability to read the game, and possessing a powerful hit.
“And then, we had a player from Odisha who is speedy, has supple wrists, the ability to dodge and score goals,” he added. “There were reasons to be excited.”
Lakra’s debut was electric, scoring three times in six matches of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. But those were uncertain times in Indian hockey, with the team failing to defend its Asian Games gold medal and bowing out of the World Cup on home soil in the quarterfinals, which forced a change of coach that was so common back then.
Lakra’s talent got lost in the churn and though he remained on the fringes of the team, opportunities were few and far between. He continued putting in the hard yards in training to fight for a spot in the team but twisted his ankle during a training session. It triggered a series of unfortunate mishaps, leading to what Lakra called a ‘forgettable phase’ of his life.
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“I had ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) and meniscus injuries at one time,” he said of the injury in 2022. “I wish no player should go through such a phase in his or her career.”
After surgery, Lakra was sidelined for two years. “I got operated upon and started walking and jogging after a month of the operation. I had to start everything from scratch. For two years, I was in the camp but in rehab,” he said.
There were many occasions when Lakra — who saw some of his peers graduate to the senior side and cement their spots — wondered if he would ever get to wear the India jersey again. As he wrestled with these thoughts, tragedy struck at home.
His father, a mason, had a fatal fall from a height while constructing his own house. “He told us that after completing the work, he would quit. ‘My son has achieved something, so I will leave’, he would say. He was content at that moment,” Lakra recalled. “However, he fell from around seven-eight feet and suffered severe injuries to his head, back and spinal cord. There were multiple surgeries but it didn’t work out.”
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During those ‘dark days’, Lakra took inspiration from other players who had suffered career-threatening injuries. He waited patiently for his turn and was rewarded in October 2024 when, for the first time since December 2021, he got picked for India.
“Two years is a long time to be away from the national team,” Tirkey said. “Imagine, you are fit, playing for the country and then suddenly, you pick up an injury which forces you away for two years… it takes a lot of toll mentally. He has shown a lot of resilience to make a comeback.”
In the post-Paris Olympics shake-up, coach Fulton made field-goal conversion one of the priority areas. During the bronze-medal-winning campaign in the French capital, 10 out of India’s 15 goals came via penalty corners. In an attempt to add variety to the forward line, Fulton turned to Lakra, whose reputation of combining skill with speed hadn’t taken a hit despite the long injury layoff.
Lakra has since been a constant in the team, scoring goals and providing assists. “He is just coming into his own again,” Fulton said. “It’s not easy to play a tournament in India when you haven’t played for a while. It takes time.”
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After two years on the sidelines, time is of the essence for the once-wannabe priest, who is now one of India’s top poachers.
