Kishan Lal

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Kishan Lal

Personal information
Born	(1917-02-02)2 February 1917 Mhow, Central India Agency, British India
Died	23 June 1980(1980-06-23) (aged 63) Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Playing position	Halfback
Senior career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	Indian Railways
	Central India
National team
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	India
Medal record Men’s Field hockey Representing  India Olympic Games 1948 London Team

Kishan Lal (2 February 1917 – 23 June 1980) was an Indian field hockey player. He captained the Indian hockey team in 1948, which won its first gold at the Olympics as an independent country, defeating Great Britain in the final, 4-0.

Introduction[]

Kishan Lal was India's captain of the hockey team at the 1948 Olympics in London. He was one of the greatest inside forwards in hockey. He is known as the fastest player in wing position and a gentleman player. According to Gian Singh, "Many times, I would think he would score but invariable he would pass the ball to inside forwards or the centre forward to do the finishing touch".

Career[]

The beginning[]

He was born in Mhow. As a child he was fascinated by games of polo.He won the admiration of the crowds when he started playing hockey at the age of 14 yrs. In 1933 at the age of 16 he represented , and also went on to play for , Indore. He played along with Dhyan Chand for . In 1937 his talent caught the eye of M. N. Zutshi the Captain of Bhagwant Club Hockey Team and it was brought to the attention of the Maharaja Bir Singh Ju Dev of the erstwhile and thereafter he was seen donning the colors of the prestigious Bhagwant Club of Tikamgarh.

He was selected for the 1940 Olympic team but due to the war, the Olympic Games of 1940 and 1944 were cancelled.

In the year 1941 he joined the then now known as Western Railway. He played for Central India in the National Hockey Championship. He continued to figure prominently in the winning teams at the , Beighton Cup, and the Tournaments. Under his Captaincy the team won three times in a row.

Indian Hockey Team[]

In 1947, he wore the Indian colors while being chosen second in command to Dhyan Chand on a tour of East Africa and in the following year earned the honor of captaining the Indian team to the Olympic Games at London. This particular Olympic Games was very important to the country. India had just got their Independence from the British after a very long and demanding struggle. The 1948 Olympics was being held in London itself and India had been partitioned to carve out Pakistan on account of which most of the talented players had migrated to Pakistan. The Indian Team for the London Games was an all new team without a single player with previous experience of the Olympics.

1948 Olympics[]

The India squad for the 1948 London Olympics was announced on 14 June 1948 and Lal was named captain.^[1] India's campaign began with a 8–0 victory over Austria. Playing in the right wing, Lal scored one goal in the game, in its second half.^[2] After a 9–1 win over Argentina, they faced Spain in the final game of the group stage. Lal's team won 2–0 with him having a good game. In what was a "heavy, soft ground", Lal "showed amazing turns of speed and ball control", and had one shot from inside the circle saved by the Spain goalkeeper Rafael Ruiz early on. He play barefooted in the second half.^[3] Lal was "prominent" in every attack against Netherlands in the semifinal and helped take his team to the final against Great Britain.^[4] Lal continued his fine form in the final and helped set up the second goal for his team in the form of Patrick Jansen. He removed his shoes and played with only socks on and had a shot blocked a few minutes before half-time. Wearing shoes again coming into the second half, attacking play was continued by his team with Balbir Singh Sr., Keshav Dutt and himself frequently penetrating the British defence only to be prevented by the goalkeeper. Lal discarded his shoes again and carried on till the end of the game that India won 4–0. He "worried the English goal-keeper constantly" from his position,^[5] and was rated by The Times as an "outstanding forward on the field" while praising India's performance at the Games.^[6]

Related anecdote[]

The victorious captain Kishan Lal fulfilled a childhood boast when he dined with King George. As a schoolboy in Mhow, Kishan Lal had upbraided a sweets vendor for allowing flies to settle on his wares. The haughty hawker snapped back: 'Who do you think you are? The son of a nawab (King)? Kishan retorted: 'Don't be so smart. One day, I'll dine with the King of England.' He did dine with the British monarch at a formal banquet. After the victory, V. K. Krishna Menon, free India's first High Commissioner to England, gave an official reception at India House. The victorious Indian team went on a goodwill tour of the European mainland - visiting France, Czechoslovakia and Switzerland. The team returned by ship to Bombay, where a red carpet welcome was given to the team. The victory celebrations culminated in Delhi, where President Rajendra Prasad and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru attended a match involving the Olympic team at the jam packed National Stadium.

As coach[]

After 28 years of continuous play, he retired from competitive hockey but remained connected with the game till 1976 as Chief Coach under the Railways Sports Control Board. He was chief coach for Indian Railways for twenty years out of which Indian Railways won the National Tournament fourteen times while the rest six ended as draws in the Finals.Players like Balbir Singh, Harbinder Singh, Prithipal Singh and Mohinder Singh owe their stature in a big way to his grooming. His talent spotting was admired greatly. He scouted the country for players held training camps at various places in the country. Young players thronged to join the Indian Railways Team, for a berth in it was considered a passport to the Olympics. In 1964, he was invited to train Malaysia. In 1968, he was invited to coach East Germany. Even after retiring from Western Railway in 1976, he displayed great interest in the Railway Team and in the game. He was probably the only former Olympian who was a regular at Hockey Competitions.

Death[]

Hockey circles were plunged in grief when "Dada", as he was fondly addressed, died on 22 June 1980. He was in Madras as an invitee for the Murruguppa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament and was to be the expert commentator for the Doordarshan coverage of the second leg final scheduled for the very day. The Western Railway players and officials and all other hockey players and hockey Associations all over the country gave the departed Hockey star the honors that was due to him in their own touching ways. On 23 June 1980, touching scenes were witnessed at his residence in Bombay as sportsmen, officials of various organizations and sports writers paid their last respects to him. He was cremated at the Sion Crematorium in Bombay. There was a regular flow of Sports fans since 22 June at his place where his body lay after being flown down from Madras. The most moving sight was that of the Muruguppa Gold Cup Hockey Tournament Secretary K.R. Subramaniam who accompanied the body from Madras. To what extent Madras respected the former star was evident when K. R. Subramanian and Reddy laid the garlands on the body of the deceased. K. R. Subramanian said about "Dada" that he was amongst the most respected sportsman in the country, that he was a regular invitee to the Murruguppa Tournament since the last 7 years. Former president of the IHF, MAM Ramaswamy expressed great shock and described him as one of the finest gentlemen he had come across. He said his death is a great loss to Indian Hockey, particularly as a coach and that he produced good players for the Railways. Former Olympian R S Gentle, on his death said "besides being the greatest right winger I have ever seen, he was a gentleman player and a coach of outstanding merit". Gurbux Singh, another Olympian said "Railways in particular have been orphaned". Joe Antic said "there will never be another". Similar sentiments were expressed by leading officials including the Bombay Hockey Association President, Baptist D’Souza and the President of the Maharashtra State Olympic Association, Magan Singh.

Honours[]

In 1966, he was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the then President of India Dr Sarvapalli Radha Krishnan.

Personal life[]

Kishan Lal had four sons and a daughter. The eldest son Devki Lal was a hockey Coach who died on 21 September 2009.

See also[]

• List of Indian hockey captains in Olympics
• Field hockey in India
• India men's national field hockey team

References[]

External links[]

• Kishan Lal at Olympedia
• Bharatiya Hockey