Major Dhyan Chand The Undoubted Wizard

What King Pele is to Soccer, Donald Bradman to Cricket, Dhyan Chand is to Field Hockey.

- GP CAPT ACHCHYUT KUMAR

However, no one ever broke Bradman’s bat or Pele’s leg to see if there was any spring hidden inside them. Legend has it that so wonderful was Dhyan Chand’s dribbling and ball control that during an international match, his hockey stick was broken to see whether there was anything inside the stick that attracted the ball like a magnet. Such has been the versatility of Dhyan Chand’s stick work.

In 2014, names of two players were recommended for India’s highest civilian honour; the Bharat Ratna. However, it was a rare occasion when the immortal Major Dhyan Chand ended as a loser. In fact, the irony remains that our hero did not even get the honour of receiving the second-highest civilian award of the country. However, there is one honour which shall continue to be exclusive to Dhyan Chand among all sports personalities and, that is, that his birthday continues to be commemorated as the National Sports Day.

Dhyan Chand was born to Sameshwar DuttSingh and Shradha Singh, at the historical city of Allahabad, on 29 August 1905. Among his two younger brothers, Roop Singh and Mool Singh, the former also went on to be a great hockey player whose glory as a player would have been the greatest but for the presence of his elder sibling.