Kishan Lal
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.
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Born |
2 February 1917 Mhow, Central India Agency, British India | ||||||||||||||||
| Died |
23 June 1980 (aged 63) Madras, Tamil Nadu, India | ||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Halfback | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||
| Indian Railways | |||||||||||||||||
| Central India | |||||||||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| India | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Introduction
Kishan Lal was India's hockey team captain at the 1948 Olympics in London. He is considered one of the greatest inside forwards in field hockey. He is known as the fastest player in the wing position and a gentlemanly 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 center forward to do the finishing touch."[1]
Career
The beginning
He was born in Mhow. He started playing hockey at the age of 14. In 1933, he represented Mhow Heroes and Mhow Green Walls and played for Kalyanmal Mills, Indore. In 1937, he joined the Bhagwant Club of Tikamgarh.
He was selected for the 1940 Olympic team.
In 1941, he joined BB & CI Railway. He played for Central India in the National Hockey Championship. Under his Captaincy, the team won three championships in a row.
1948 Olympics
Kishan Lal was named captain of the Indian squad for the 1948 London Olympics .[2] India's won against Austria by 8-0.[3] After a 9–1 win over Argentina, then Spain, in the final game, 2–0.[4] Lal won against Netherlands in the semifinal and final against Great Britain,[5] which India won by 4-0.[6] Lal was rated by The Times as an "outstanding forward on the field".[7]
As coach
After 28 years of career, he retired from competitive hockey but remained connected with the game until 1976 as Chief Coach under the Railways Sports Control Board. He was a 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. In 1964, he was invited to train in Malaysia. In 1968, he was invited to coach East Germany.
Death
He died on 23 June 1980. He was cremated at the Sion Crematorium in Bombay.[8]
Awards
In 1966, he was awarded with the prestigious Padma Shri by former President of India Dr Sarvapalli Radha Krishnan.
Personal life
Kishan Lal had four sons and a daughter. His eldest son, Devki Lal, was a hockey coach. Devki died on September 21, 2009.
See also
References
- Patra, Sajal (15 August 2021). "Independence Day 2021: From Milkha Singh to Sachin Tendulkar, a Look at Indias Greatest XI in Sports Post Independence". www.india.com.
- "Indian Teams For Olympics". Morning Tribune. 15 June 1948. p. 14.
- "India's Easy Preliminary Hockey Win". The Indian Express. Reuters. 1 August 1948. p. 7.
- "India's Hockey Win On Wet Ground". The Indian Express. 7 August 1948. p. 7.
- "India Enter Olympic Hockey Final". The Indian Express. 10 August 1948. p. 7.
- Valentine, Alex (13 August 1948). "India Wins Fourth Olympic Hockey Championship". The Indian Express. Reuters. p. 7.
- "British Praise For India's Hockey Wizardry". The Indian Express. 15 August 1948. p. 9.
- "Kishan Lal True story".
External links
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