Kishan Lal
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Born |
2 February 1917 Mhow, Central India Agency, British India |
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| Died | 23 June 1980 (aged 63) Madras, Tamil Nadu, India |
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| Playing position | Halfback | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career | |||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||
| Indian Railways | |||||||||||||||
| Central India | |||||||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||||
| India | |||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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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. He was the greatest right winger in the history of hockey. He was instrumental in developing the Indian Railways hockey team as one of the best teams in India. A large number of players went on to play for India. He died on 23 June 1980 at Madras.
Kishan Lal was India's captain of the hockey team at the 1948 Olympics in London. He was one of the greatest inside forwards in hockey. He is known as the fastest player in wing position He would race down to the goal position once the ball was with him, a thorn in the eyes of the opponent and was a gentleman 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 centre forward to do the finishing touch". When S S Naqvi, hockey coach in Oman and technical adviser with the Oman Olympic Committee gave his pick of players for a greatest ever World XI hockey team, he placed Kishan Lal of India as his first choice as a right winger.
He was born in Mhow. As a little child he was fascinated by games of polo which he used to often watch longingly. It triggered the player in him and soon he won the admiration of the crowds when he started playing at the age of 14 yrs. In 1933 at the age of 16 he represented Mhow Heroes, Mhow Green Walls and also went on to play for Kalyanmal Mills, Indore. He played along with Dhyan Chand for Jhansi Heroes. In 1937 his talent caught the eye of Mr. M. N. Zutshi the Captain of Bhagwant Club Hockey Team and it was brought to the attention of the Maharaja Bir Singh Ju Dev of the erstwhile Tikamgarh State and thereafter he was seen donning the colors of the prestigious Bhagwant Club of Tikamgarh.
In the year 1941 he joined the then BB & CI Railway now known as Western Railway. He played for Central India in the National Hockey Championship. He continued to figure prominently in the winning teams at the Agha Khan Cup, Beighton Cup, Obaidullah Khan Cup and the Scindia Cup Tournaments. Under his Captaincy the team won three times in a row.
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