Biography of Hockey Wizard Dhyan Chand
By Niket Bhushan, Wiley Eastern Ltd., 1992
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East African Tour | The Indian team set sail for East
Africa on December 6. Eight days later, it docked in the Kenyan port of
Mombasa.
India played 28 matches on the tour, winning all of them. Even at the age of 43, Dhyan Chand scored 61 goals in just 22 matches. While on tour, news of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination reached East Africa, shocking the team and the rest of the world. |
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1947, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) got a request from the Asian Sports
Association of East Africa to send India's best hockey team on a tour. They
insisted that Dhyan Chand had to be on the team, as the Indians settled in East
Africa wanted to see the Wizard in action.
Under the captaincy of Dhyan Chand, the Indian team set sail for East Africa on December 6. Eight days later, it docked in the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
India played 28 matches on the tour, winning all of them. Even at the age of 43, Dhyan Chand's game was splendid. He scored an amazing 61 goals in just 22 matches.
While on tour, news of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination on January 30, 1948, reached East Africa, shocking the team and the rest of the world.
The team that Dhyan Chand captained to East Africa contained the nucleus of the squad that represented India in the 1948 Olympics. In the London Olympiad, independent India would go on to beat Holland 2-1 in the semi-final and Great Britain 4-0 in the final to retain its gold medal. The newly created country of Pakistan would emerge fourth on its debut.
When Dhyan Chand brought the young Indian team back from East Africa in 1948, he was sad to see that there was no one to greet them. The IHF did not even hold an official reception for the team. Dhyan Chand felt that such actions would affect the morale of the young players.
In September 1948, Dhyan Chand played against the victorious Indian Olympic team after their return from London. By this time, Dhyan Chand had been promoted to the rank of Captain. Dhyan Chand was happy that he received this rank in Free India.
Later, as the manager of the Indian XI, Dhyan Chand would visit Kenya again in 1963-64, after Kenya had attained its independence.
Indian Team on the East African Tour (Photo Courtesy Pat Jansen)