Was Sir Major Dhyan Chand snubbed of Bharat Ratna Award courtesy Sachin Tendulkar?

In 2013, there was a major debate regarding the deserving candidates to get the Bharat Ratna Award. Sachin Tendulkar and Sir Major Dhyan Chand, two of the best Sports legends India had produced till then, were in the race. In the end, it was the Indian cricketer who was awarded the highest civilian award in India which raised a lot of eyebrows.

Many believed that Dhyan Chand deserved to be the recipient of the award. There were a lot of points that supported Chand. He was the leading goal scorer in the history of Field Hockey. The star player had the most number of gold medals for a Hockey player at the Olympics. He led India to a Hockey gold in the 1936 Olympics as a captain.

Despite the added responsibilities and pressure, Dhyan did a fantastic job. However, by 2013, Chand had long passed away. As Sachin was alive and still active as a cricketer, he was given the award. He had one of the greatest resumes for a Sportsperson to bag the award. Sachin Tendulkar had the most ODI runs, Test runs, ODI hundreds, Test hundreds, ODI, and Test appearances, and several other cricket records to his name.

Who had a better case for themselves?

The argument in favour of Chand was that he had to achieve everything he did without the support of the government. The argument in favour of Tendulkar was that he had better competitors than Chad had in his period. This is what gave Dhyan an edge in the legacy. While Indian cricket during the period of Sachin did not accomplish a lot, the Indian Hockey team was dominant during Chand's period.

Dhyan Chand never lost a Hockey match for India at the Olympics. He was the leading scorer for India at the Olympics during his period. Many records were in the favor of Chand. No wonder why many believed Dhyan deserved the award more than Sachin. It would not have been a bad option to make Chand the first-ever Sportsperson to be awarded with Bharat Ratna.