Remembering Sir Major Dhyan Chand on National Sports Day

On the 29th of August every year, India celebrates its National Sports Day as an honour to the legendary career of Sir Major Dhyan Chand. The former Hockey player was one of the earliest legends in Indian sports. Though he was not recognized highly in the past, Dhyan Chand has been regarded highly by Hockey fans around the globe and in India.

Dhyan Chand was a part of the Indian invincible team that won a hat-trick of gold medals in Hockey at the Olympics. The streak started in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and lasted till the Berlin Olympics in 1936. During that period, India never lost a match and often conceded a handful of goals while scoring a lot against their opponents. The Indian Hockey team was the most dominant for a long time.

Chand was a youngster when he took part in 1928 and won India its maiden gold medal in the history of the Olympic Games. He was a part of the Indian team in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932 and scored a lot of goals. At Berlin, Chand was the Indian captain and was under a bit of pressure due to the performance of the team in the lead-up to the tournament.

The controversial Bharat Ratna snub

India had lost the practice match to Punjab and later lost to Germany's local team. Despite the pressure, India won the gold medal under the captaincy of Dhyan Chand. In the final against Germany, he created the then history and scored 4 goals, the most back then for a player, and the second most in the final to date.

In the 1948 Olympics, India needed someone to guide the younger players. Chand stepped up and groomed the players who went on to defend the gold medal for the first time in 12 years. In 2013, there were calls for Chand to get the Bharat Ratna Award. However, Sachin Tendulkar got the honours for his contribution to cricket, which led to criticism of the government.