DHYAN CHAND – THE MOONLIGHT WIZARD

Considered a wizard or magician of the game, Dhyan Chand was the first superstar of hockey. India won three consecutive hockey gold medals during the Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932, and Berlin 1936 Olympic Games and Dhyan Chand was the hero who made that possible.

Dhyan Chand was born on 29 August 1905 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He studied at the Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh and in 1932 graduated from Victoria College, Gwalior. On 29 August 1922, at the age of 17 years, Dhyan Chand enlisted in the  British Indian Army as a sepoy (private).

During his sporting career between 1926 and 1048, Dhyan Chand scored more than 1000 goals (domestic and international matches), making him the highest goal scorer in the history of Hockey. His sublime skills, unbelievable scoring ability and out of the world dribbling skills kept the audience glued to their seats.

There is an interesting story about his name. It is said that his actual name was Dhyan Singh. However, being a full-time soldier, he was always running tight on schedule. His late-night practising of hockey mostly coincided with the coming out of the moon and he would even use it to his benefit by playing under the moonlit night, hence his teammates named him ‘Chand’ (meaning moon).

In 1928 Olympics Final, India beat Netherlands, who were also the hosts, by 3-0. The United States went down by a margin that one would not believe, 24-1, in the 1932 Olympic Gold Medal Match. India also defeated Germany 8-1 in the 1936 Olympics Final. During those tournaments, there was a common saying that India cannot be defeated as long as Dhyan Chand was playing. He scored 33 goals in the 12 Olympic matches that he played.

One must remember that as compared to the Astroturf and equally surfaced fields available for playing hockey at present, in those days the grounds used to be uneven with natural grass. This made the ball control extremely difficult for any player and still, Dhyan Chand was able to control the ball as if there was glued to his hockey stick. Legend has it that his unbelievable control also put him under the scanner and unnecessary trouble several times. Once, his hockey stick was broken just to ensure that there was no magnet inside.

Dhyan Chand was also famous for something most people could not even dream of doing in those days – refusing Adolf Hitler. Legend has it that German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, was also present during the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. He was so awestruck and stunned watching Dhyan Chand’s super play that he offered him German citizenship along with the post of colonel in the German army. Not only that. Adolf Hitler also offered Dhyan Chand many privileges that India could never offer to Dhan Chand. However, the great patriot that he was, Dhyan Chand is said to have refused Hitler’s offer.

What made Dhyan Chand an extraordinary player of his game was his innate ability to know everything about the game – including his calculations and awareness of the entire environment.

Once when he was not able to score a goal in a match, he went on to argue with the referee about the size of the goal post. Since it was Dhyan Chand (who was almost revered for his skills in hockey), an exceptional decision was taken to measure the goal post. And to everyone’s astonishment and surprise, indeed, the goal post was not as per officially prescribed standards. This was the first instance in the history of sports, that a player, because of his God-like calculation was able to know that something was wrong with the goalpost because it was not matching his calculated shots.

In another interesting incident, Dhyan Chand passed a ball to a fellow player known as KD Babu. Then he turned and walked away without even seeing whether Babu scored the goal, which showed how much confidence he had in his fellow players.

Dhyan Chand’s birthday, 29th August, is celebrated as National Sports Day. The President gives away the Arjuna award and the Major Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games on this day (since 2002), in honour of one of the most gifted players ever born in India. Also, the National Stadium in Delhi was renamed Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium

The cricketing great Sir Donald Brandman, once after having seen Dhyan Chand play, is said to have commented that he plays hockey and scores goals like we score runs in cricket.

 After 34 years of service, on 29 August 1956, Dhyan Chand retired from the Indian Army as a Lieutenant (acting Captain). The same year, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by The President of India for his achievement in the field of Sports.

Dhyan Chand died on 03 December 1979 after suffering from liver cancer at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. He was cremated at the Jhansi Heroes ground in his hometown with full military honours from the Punjab Regiment.

His skills, commitment and attitude can inspire us all a lot about leadership, not just in the world of sport, but in every corporate arena. The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves. Dhyan Chand used to set high standards for himself and always used to outperform. Having said that he never left the cornerstones of what makes a good leader – teamwork, trust in team members, hard work and most importantly, being an inspiration for generations to come.

Suggested further reading:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/hockey/top-stories/dhyan-chand-inspired-independent-indias-olympic-success-in-hockey-say-former-players/articleshow/77503051.cms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhyan_Chand

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/hockey/the-legend-of-dhyan-chand/article19580161.ece

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/dhyan-chand-indian-hockey-history-olympic-7441937/