Kishan Lal (2 February 1917 – 23 June 1980) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

player. He captained the

Indian hockey team The India men's national field hockey team represents India in international field hockey competitions, and is governed by Hockey India. The team was formerly under the control of Indian Hockey Federation. India was the first non-European team t ...

in 1948, which won its first gold at the Olympics as an independent country, defeating

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

in the final, 4–0.

Introduction

Kishan Lal was India's hockey team captain at the

1948 Olympics 1948 Olympics may refer to: *The 1948 Winter Olympics, which were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland *The 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an internation ...

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."

Career

The beginning

He was born in

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as ''Dr. Ambedkar Nagar'' in 20 ...

. 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 Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

. In 1937, he joined the Bhagwant Club of

Tikamgarh Tikamgarh is a town and a tehsil in Tikamgarh district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The city serves as a district headquarters. The earlier name of Tikamgarh was Tehri (i.e., a triangle) consisting of three hamlets, forming a rough ...

. 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 . India's won against Austria by 8-0. After a 9–1 win over

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, then

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, in the final game, 2–0. Lal won against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the semifinal and final against

, which India won by 4-0. Lal was rated by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' as an "outstanding forward on the field".

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.

Awards

In 1966, he was awarded with the prestigious

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

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.

References

External links

*
Bharatiya Hockey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lal, Kishan 1917 births 1980 deaths Olympic field hockey players of India Field hockey players at the 1948 Summer Olympics Indian male field hockey players Olympic gold medalists for India Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Field hockey players from Madhya Pradesh Olympic medalists in field hockey People from Mhow Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Indian field hockey coaches