Ashish Kumar Ballal is a former Indian goalkeeper of Field Hockey. Ashish Kumar Ballal was born on 8th October 1970 in the city of Mumbai in Maharashtra. He represented the country in a number of international tournaments such as the Barcelona Olympics in 1992; the World Cup in 1990; Champions Trophy tournaments in the years 1989, 1993 and 1996; Asian Games in 1994 and 1998 and Asia Cups in the years 1989 and 1993. Ashish Kumar Ballal shot to fame in India during the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games when he saved two tie-breaker goals in the final against South Korea. Under his captainship Indian bagged the Asiad Hockey Gold at Bangkok after a long gap of 32 years. Ashish Kumar Ballal has contributed greatly to the Field Hockey in India. His contributions have been honoured by the Government of India with the Arjuna Award in the year 1996. Later he assumed the role of a coach and established the Dhanraj Ballal Hockey Academy in Bengaluru, in Karnataka, where he trains the new Hockey talents of India.