Sardara Singh (born 15 July 1986), sometimes referred as Sardar Singh, is an Indian former professional

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 and captain of the Indian national team. He usually plays the center half position. Sardara became the youngest player to captain the Indian team when he led the side at the

2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup The 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was the 17th edition of 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 ...

. He was awarded

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 ...

, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 2015. On 13 July 2016, the responsibilities of the captain were handed over from him to P. R. Sreejesh, the goalkeeper of Indian Team. On 12 September 2018, Sardara announced his retirement from international hockey. He played 314 matches during 12 years in his career.

Early life

Sardara was born in Haryana's village Sant Nagar in

Sirsa District Sirsa district is the largest district of Haryana state. Sirsa is the district headquarters. It is located on National Highway 9 and from the capital Delhi. Etymology The district is named after its headquarters, Sirsa. The name, Sirsa is der ...

to Gurnam Singh, a RMP doctor, and Jasveer Kaur, a housewife.

Career

Sardara Singh made his debut for India in the junior team during India's 2003–04 tour of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. He made his senior debut against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

in 2006. He also plays for his state of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

. He is a Deputy Superintendent Police Officer with the

Haryana Police The Haryana Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the state of Haryana, India. Present DGP of Haryana Police is P. K. Agarwal since August 16, 2021. He is an IPS officer of 1988 batch. History The Haryana Police were formed when ...

and plays for their team. Singh played for Chandigarh Dynamos in the inaugural season of the

Premier Hockey League Premier Hockey League (PHL) was a professional field hockey league competition for clubs in the top division of the Indian hockey system. There were seven teams in the PHL. The competition was held every year from 2005 until 2008. History The ...

in 2005. He played for

Hyderabad Sultans The Hyderabad Sultans is the Indian Premier Hockey League team from Hyderabad of royal lineage, mixing tradition with modernity, they are the progressive nawabs. The squad is captained by Sardara Singh since 2007–08 edition. They were winners o ...

in the next three seasons till 2008, captaining the side. His brother Didar Singh, a

drag flick Drag flicking is a scoring technique in the sport of field hockey. It was first seen in the late 1980s in Australia. It is used as an attacking technique, mainly within penalty corner involving two main components known as the scoop and flick. The ...

specialist also played for the Indian team,

and Chandigarh Dynamos. In 2010, he was included in the 18-men FIH All-Star team. In the same year, Singh was signed by the Belgian club, KHC Leuven to play in the Belgian Hockey League. In 2011, he was again named on the FIH All-Star team. Following Singh's impressive showing at the 2013 Asia Cup, he was signed by the Dutch club

HC Bloemendaal Hockey Club Bloemendaal (), commonly known as Bloemendaal, is a Dutch field hockey club based in Bloemendaal, North Holland. It was established on 26 April 1895, and is one of the oldest field hockey clubs in the Netherlands. Originally, the club a ...

as a replacement to

Teun de Nooijer Teun Floris de Nooijer (born 22 March 1976) is a field hockey player from the Netherlands, who twice became Olympic champion with the Dutch national squad, in 1996 and in 2000, and was on the team in 2012. He curre ...

. On 13 July 2016, the responsibilities of the captain were handed over from him to P. R. Sreejesh, the goalkeeper of Indian team. He has captained Indian team for 8 years. He quit the sport in September 2018. In 2019, he was included in a 13-member Hockey India selection committee.

Hockey India League

Sardar Singh became the highest-paid marquee player at the inaugural

Hockey India League Hockey India League (HIL), known as the Coal India Hockey India League is a professional field hockey league in India. The league is organized by Hockey India, the governing body for the sport in India. HIL, along with the Indian Premier League, ...

auctions as the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

franchise bought him for US$78,000 (42,49,000). The Delhi team was named Delhi Waveriders. He captained his side to finish on second place in its inaugural season and was awarded the 'Player of the Tournament.' He was honoured with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Indian hockey team captain saradara sing at kalinga stadium

Indian hockey team captain saradara sing at kalinga stadium

Punjabi Music Industry

Sardar Singh is making his first Punjabi Music Industry debut by featuring in song ‘Gallan Karraiyan’ by veteran Punjabi singer Hardeep Singh of Shehar Patiale de fame. The song is written by Sukha Wadali and the music is by

Jaidev Kumar Jaidev Kumar ( Hindi, जयदेव कुमार) is an Indian musician and producer, who was born in Delhi but who moved to Mumbai in 2000. He has been working in the Punjabi music industry since 1999. His first hit album was "Dil Le Ga ...

Achievements

* Awarded 'Player of Tournament' in the 2012 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, where India won the Bronze. * He was adjudged the Player of the Tournament in the 2012 Summer Olympics Qualifiers, where India won the Gold. * He was adjudged the Player of the Tournament in the 2010 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, where India won the Gold. * He participated in

Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual invitational international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It began in 1983 as a biennial contest. The tournament became an annual event after 1998, following its growth and popularity. The ...

in Malaysia in the year 2006 and the team won Bronze Medal. * He participated in SAF Games at Colombo in the year 2006 and the team scored 2nd position. * He participated in 7th Junior Challenge Open Men's at Poland 2006 and scored 2nd position. * He participated in

2007 Men's Hockey Champions Challenge The 2007 Men's Hockey Champions Challenge took place in Boom, Belgium from June 23 to July 1, 2007. Argentina earned a spot at the 2008 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy, 2008 Champions Trophy in Rotterdam, Netherlands after having defeated New Zeala ...

at Belgium 2007 and got Bronze Medal. * He participated in

Commonwealth Games 2006 The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held i ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. * He participated in INDO-PAK series 2006. * He participated in ''Four Nations International Tournament'' at Germany and the team scored Bronze Medal. * He also participated in Four Nations Hockey Tournament at Lahore and the team win Silver Medal. * He participated in

Men's Hockey Asia Cup The Men's Hockey Asia Cup is a men's international field hockey tournament organized by the Asian Hockey Federation. The winning team becomes the champion of Asia and qualifies for the FIH Hockey World Cup. South Korea are the defending champion ...

at Chennai 2007 and the team grabbed Gold Medal. * Sardara Singh by Ijas Muhammed Photography

He participated for India in Canada for the 7 game Test Series against the Canadian National Field Hockey Team

References

External links

Profile
at

Hockey India Hockey India plans, directs and conducts all the activities for both men and women hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India. It w ...