Dhyan Chand (a biographical sketch)

Major Dhyan 'Chand' Singh

August 29, 1905 – December 3, 1979

Widely regarded as the greatest hockey player of all time!

Dhyan Chand is to hockey what Bradman is to cricket, Mohammed Ali to boxing and Pele to football!

Legendary center-forward!

Won 3 Olympic gold medals

Scored more than 400 goals during his international career.

Awarded Padma Bhushan in 1956.

Born in Prayag, Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.

His father Sameshwar Dutt Singh was in the Indian Army and played hockey in the army.

Had to terminate his education after class six due to frequesnt transfers of father.

Young Dhyan had no serious inclination towards sports, though he loved wrestling.

He did not play any hockey worth mentioning before he joined the Army.

He occasionally indulged in casual games in Jhansi with his friends.

Chand joined the Indian Army at the age of 16, in 1922 .

Subedar-Major Bale Tiwari noticed his dribbling skills. He became his mentor and laid the foundations of his game.

Between 1922 and 1926, Chand exclusively played the army hockey tournaments and the regimental games.

Chand was ultimately selected for the Indian Army team which was to tour New Zealand.

The team won 18 matches, drew 2 and lost only 1, receiving praises from all spectators. Returning to India, Chand was immediately promoted to Lance Naik.

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Once while playing a hockey game Major dhyan chand was not able to strike ball into the goal post of the opposition's team. After several misses he argued with the match referee regarding the measurement of the goal post and amazingly it was found incorrect!

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Final of the Punjab Indian Infantry tournament in Jhelum.

The UP team was leading by three goals to one.

Only 4 minutes to go.

Dhyan chand responded with three goals in four minutes to lead his team to victory.

He seemed to be able to pass opponent after opponent at will.

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it is said that at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, Dhyan Chand could not play for finals against Germany, as he was hurt. At half point, when India led by only 1-0 Dhyan Chand removed his shoes and entered the field bare foot. He took India to a stunning victory scoring 6 more goals. Adolf Hitler left midway as he couldn't bear to see his "racially superior" team being demolished.

In his autobiography titled “Goal!” published in 1952 by Sport & Pastime, Chennai, Dhyan Chand writes about that match as follows:

“When Germany was four goals down, a ball hit Allen's pad and rebounded. The Germans took full advantage of this and made a rush, netting the ball before we could stop it. That was the only goal Germany would score in the match against our eight, and incidentally the only goal scored against India in the entire Olympic tournament. India's goal-getters were Roop Singh, Tapsell and Jaffar with one each, Dara two and myself three.”

Later the German dictator offered to elevate 'Lance Naik' Dhyan to the rank of a Colonel if he migrated to Germany. Of course, Dhyan Chand refused.

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In Holland, the authorities broke his hockey stick to check if there was a magnet inside.

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After India played its first match in the 1936 Olympics, Dhyan Chand's magical stickwork drew crowds from other venues to the hockey field.

A German newspaper carried a banner headline: 'The Olympic complex now has a magic show too.' The next day, there were posters all over Berlin: 'Visit the hockey stadium to watch the Indian magician Dhyan Chand in action.

'After every India match, hundreds of spectators would troop down to the players enclosure and touch Dhyan Chand's hockey stick to see what trick it was that kept the ball from leaving his stick as he dribbled his way all over the field.

One journalist reported: 'It looks like he has some invisible magnet stuck to his hockey stick so that the ball does not leave it at all.'

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So great was the magic of Dhyan Chand that the Tokyo Olypics officials broke his hockey stick to search for a magnet inside. Embarrased on finding nothing, they consoled with the theory of a glue.

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On one occasion, a lady from the audience asked Dhyan Chand to play with her walking stick instead. He scored goals even with them!

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Don Bradman and Dhyan Chand once came face to face at Adelaide in 1935, when the Indian hockey team was in Australia. After watching Dhyan Chand in action, Don Bradman remarked "He scores goals like runs in cricket"

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An artist in Vienna depicted him as having eight arms.

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Once during a tour of Lyon in 1963, a female fan planted a kiss on Dhyan Chand despite him trying his best to avoid that.

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When everbody else thought he was going to shoot, he passed, to induce surprise.

And when he passed to you, you did not want to miss.

On that 1947 tour, he put through a wondorous ball to KD Singh Babu, then turned his back and walked away.

When Babu later asked the reason for this odd behaviour, he was told, "If you could not get a goal from that you did not deserve to be on my team."

Keshav Dutt, Olympic gold Medallist, said "His real talent lay above his shoulders.

His was easily the hockey brain of the century. He could see a field the way a chess player sees the board. He knew where his teammates were, and more importantly where his opponents were - without looking. It was almost psychic.

He treated everybody as pieces on a board meant for his use. He'd know from his own movement how the defense was forming, and where the gaps were. In other words, he was the only imponderable, Everbody else (opposition included) fell in predictable patterns around him."

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Residents of Vienna, Austria honoured him by setting up a statue of him with four hands and four sticks, depicting his control and mastery over the ball.

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Dhyan Chand owned a licensed army gun which he would use for hunting (which was not banned in those days).

He also loved to fish.

Cooking was his other favourite hobby. He was a non-vegetarian and enjoyed making mutton and fish dishes. He liked making halwa dripping with ghee.

His indoor pastime was billiards. After retirement in Jhansi, he used to play billiards till late in the night.

Dhyan Chand also played cricket well, and was good at batting due to his strong wrists. He used to play carroms and loved photography.

He admitted that he was not a good social mixer. While at home or during play, he kept to himself. He thought that it would be better if he kept quiet and just did his duty or job.

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In 1956, at the age of 51, he retired from the army with the rank of Major.

After he retired he coached for a while, then settled in his beloved Jhansi.

The last days of Dhyan Chand were not very happy, as he was short of money and was badly ignored by the nation. Once he went to a tournament in Ahmedabad and they turned him away not knowing who he was.

He developed liver cancer, and was sent to a general ward at the AIIMS, New Delhi. He died on the 3rd of December 1979 penniless and uncared for in a hospital, receiving a meagre pension..

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His birthday is celebrated every year as National Sports Day. The Indian Postal Service issued a postage stamp in his memory, and the Dhyan Chand National Stadium at New Delhi has been named after him.

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"Goal" is the autobiography of Hockey wizard Dhyan Chand published by Sport & Pastime, Chennai, 1952

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Hockey or Stock Trading....passion and dedication is magical!