ugust 29, Dhyan Chand's
birthday, is observed as National Sports Day in India. We pause to give tribute to the
Hockey Immortal from Col. A. I. S. Dara, Pakistan's first Olympic captain. Dara writes:
"Juggler, magician, wizard. Whatever Dhyan Chand was called, there was no doubt that this lightly built hockey genius was a giant among players. He was a thorough gentleman who never lost his temper.
During the final of the 1936 Olympic Games, the Germans decided to play rough after 6 goals had been scored against them. Going for Dhyan Chand, the German goalkeeper removed one of his teeth. Returning to the field after receiving first aid, Dhyan Chand instructed us not to score any more goals. "We must teach them a lesson in ball control," he said. So we repeatedly took the ball up to the German circle and then back-passed to dumbfound our opponents.
A sports club in Vienna built a statue of Dhyan Chand with four hands and four sticks, as if he were some diety. To those Viennese, at least, he certainly was, because they said that no ordinary man with two hands and one stick could play so well."
Photo and Text Courtesy : Wills Book of Excellence - Hockey