(Special by Avindra Trivedi) Sports lovers get goosebumps remembering Major Dhyanchand. He was born on 29 August 1905 in Allahabad. He was born in a Rajput family and did not show any special signs of sportsmanship in his childhood. Therefore, it can be said that the talent for hockey was not inborn, but he earned this reputation with the help of constant practice, dedication, struggle and determination. After receiving ordinary education, at the age of 16, in 1922, he joined the army as an ordinary soldier in the First Brahmin Regiment in Delhi.
When he joined the ‘First Brahmin Regiment’, he did not have any special interest or liking for hockey. The credit for inspiring Dhyanchand to play hockey goes to Major Tiwari, a subedar of the regiment. Major Tiwari himself was also a lover and player. Dhyan Chand started playing hockey under his supervision and soon became a great player of the world. He was made Lance Naik in 1927.
When he went to Los Angeles in 1932, he was appointed Naik. When he was the captain of the Indian hockey team in 1937, he was made Subedar. When the Second World War started, he was appointed ‘Lieutenant’ in 1943 and when India became independent, he was made Captain in 1948. He kept getting promoted in the army only because of the game of hockey. In 1938, he got the ‘Viceroy’s Commission’ and became a Subedar. After that, one after the other, others became Subedar, Lieutenant and Captain. Later he was made Major.
Dhyan Chand is considered to be equivalent to Pele in football and Bradman in cricket. The ball would stick to his stick so much that the opponent players would often suspect that he was playing with a magical stick. In Holland, his hockey stick was broken to check if it had a magnet. In Japan, the way the ball would stick to Dhyan Chand’s hockey stick, it was said that his hockey stick had glue on it. There are so many stories about Dhyan Chand’s hockey skills that we have hardly heard about any other player in the world. Seeing his hockey skills, not only would hockey fans praise him, but even the players of the opponent team would lose their senses and get engrossed in watching his skills. Fascinated by his skills, a stubborn German emperor like Rudolf Hitler offered him to play for Germany. But Dhyan Chand always considered playing for India to be his greatest honour. A statue of Dhyan Chand was installed in Vienna with four hockey sticks in his four hands, showing how great a player Dhyan Chand was.
He scored more than 400 goals in international matches. In April 1949, he retired from first class hockey.
In 1928, the Indian team participated in the Amsterdam Olympic Games for the first time. Before playing in Amsterdam, the Indian team played 11 matches in England and Dhyan Chand achieved special success there. In Amsterdam, the Indian team won all the first matches. By defeating Austria 6-0 on 17 May 1928, Belgium 9-0 on 18 May, Denmark 5-0 on 20 May, Switzerland 6-0 on 22 May and Holland 3-0 in the final match on 26 May, they were declared the world champions of hockey and were awarded medals on 29 May. Dhyan Chand scored two goals in the final.
In the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, Dhyan Chand was chosen as the captain of the Indian team. He expressed surprise at this and said, “I had no hope that I would be chosen as the captain.” Well, he fulfilled his responsibility with great honesty. Narrating an unforgettable memory of his life, he says that on 17th July, an exhibition match was organized for our practice with the German team. This match was played in Berlin. We lost it by four goals to one. I will never forget the shock I got from this defeat as long as I live. We were all surprised to see the progress of the German team and some of our teammates did not even like the food.
