Dhyan Chand - The Legend Lives On

Biography of Hockey Wizard Dhyan Chand
By Niket Bhushan, Wiley Eastern Ltd., 1992

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Coaching Career				Once his son Ashok Kumar was among the probables for the Indian team. Selector Dhyan Chand purposely did not include his name as he felt that the public would feel that Dhyan Chand was being partial to his son. At Patiala, a bizarre incident occurred when a petty official tried to teach hockey to Dhyan Chand. This was the beginning of the ill-treatment that Dhyan Chand would suffer at the hands of Indian hockey officials.
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n one occasion, sportswriter Sriman of The Times of India observed Dhyan Chand at a coaching camp in Mount Abu, Rajasthan. Dhyan Chand, then well past 50, asked for crosses from the right and left flanks, and demonstrated how to convert them into goals in 10 different ways.

This made Sriman write that Dhyan Chand be made a coach at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala. Dhyan Chand was the Chief Hockey Coach at Patiala for many years. During that period, he accompanied the Indian hockey team to the Mexico Olympic Games (1968) as the coach.

It is rare for a very good player to become a very good coach, but Dhyan Chand was one. He would instruct his trainees to watch carefully what he did with the ball in addition to what he explained with words. He felt that by observation alone they would pick up fast.

Dhyan Chand would make sure that the players warm up with the hockey stick in their hands. One of his methods of coaching was to keep bricks on the field, and make the players run with the ball, but control it in such a manner that it did not touch the bricks. Many times he would tie a cycle tire to a low tree branch and tell the players to hit the ball through the tire to improve their aim.

Dhyan Chand could observe a player and tell how far he would go. If he felt the player had no talent or potential, he would politely tell the trainee so. Dhyan Chand went to Bhubaneswar for training other players, and finally to Manipur where he coached some very promising players. Some of them like Neel Kamal, Tikken Singh and Thoiba Singh later played for India.

For some time, Dhyan Chand also contributed to Indian hockey as a selector. Once his son Ashok Kumar was among the probables for the Indian team. Dhyan Chand purposely did not include his name as he felt that the media and the public would feel that Dhyan Chand was being partial to his son.

At Patiala, a bizarre incident occurred when a petty hockey official tried to teach hockey to Dhyan Chand. This was the beginning of the ill-treatment that Dhyan Chand would suffer for the rest of his life at the hands of narrow-minded Indian hockey officials.

The importance that Dhyan Chand deserved in Indian hockey after retirement was denied to him. Dhyan Chand never complained about it, or cared for position or power in the politics of Indian hockey. He had done all that was possible for Indian hockey for over four decades.

Little did he know that it would be his son Ashok Kumar who would further carry on the family tradition of bringing greatness to Indian hockey in the coming years.

Dhyan Chand honoured by a stamp in recognition of his contribution to Indian hockey