Born on 7th December 1952 in Amritsar district to a Dairly farmer parents, Devinder had his schooling in the Govt Model School, Jalandhar, where the PTI Sandhu Singh from Mithapur acted as his god-father in grooming him as a hockey player. Devinder did his college at DAV College in the same town and represented it in the All India Inter-University. Transforming into a dependable defender, he honed his skills as a penalty corner expert. He joined the Punjab Police in 1975 and was a top scorer at the Palghat Sr. National Championship. He made his international debut at the 1979 Moscow Pre-Olympic tournament. He made it to the Moscow Olympics, where the Indian won the gold. Before that, he was top-scorer for India at the Champions Trophy, Karachi, Pakistan. He struck 19 in all goals, taking part in just three major tournaments. His international career was cut short due to domestic pressure. He lives in Jalandhar.