Born on June 22, 1957, he had his early education at the Doaba Khalsa School in Jalandhar, where he started playing hockey. He later played for Guru Nanak Dev College at the college level, also turning out for Punjab university at the inter-university tournaments. Making his junior India debut in 1978, he led the senior team at the Champions Trophy three years later. In between, he was the top-scorer for India at the gold-winning Moscow Olympics and was honoured with the Arjuna award in 1997.