Major Dhyan Chand, fondly called ‘Dadda’ by his fans, is a name synonymous with Indian hockey. His unparalleled skills and leadership led India to six consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1928 to 1956, a feat unmatched in the sport’s history. While numerous books and articles document his incredible journey, finding video footage of the hockey wizard is a rare treasure.
Thanks to the Prasar Bharati Archives, a short video interview with Dhyan Chand has surfaced, offering a glimpse into his brilliance. The interview, which features his son and 1975 World Cup winner, Ashok Kumar, alongside teammates Mehbood Khan and Aslam Sher Khan, provides invaluable insights into Dhyan Chand’s perspective.
In the interview, Dhyan Chand reveals a fascinating anecdote. He describes how foreign teams, particularly from countries like Holland and Germany, would meticulously film Indian players during practice sessions. These films, he explains, were later used as a resource to train their own players. “There is no doubt that foreign countries have learned from India,” Dhyan Chand stated in the interview. “I noticed during our days, when we used to go to the ground for practice in countries like Holland and Germany, their television crew and photographers shot us in slow motion and fast motion. But we never bothered as we were players. However, they used to capture the secrets of our play to train their own players.”
Further emphasizing this point, Dhyan Chand recalls a visit to Berlin in 1963. He witnessed German coaches using footage of Indian players to teach their young hockey prospects. “I saw this in 1963 in Berlin, that they were showing those photos to their kids on a screen and used to tell them about the position of hands, feet, head; when you have to dribble the ball, where your head should be, etc,” he explained. The legend, who served in the Indian Army and passed away in 1979, acknowledged the impact of this learning on the global hockey landscape. “They have trained so hard using all that (footage of Indian players training), that they have now started challenging India.” He observed a change in their playing style, with more emphasis on dribbling, a skill they learned from observing Indian players. Yet, despite the advancements, Dhyan Chand highlights a continued respect for India’s hockey prowess. “They still praise us, saying ‘no one can play hockey like India.'”
India’s golden era in hockey stretched to a remarkable eight Olympic gold medals, culminating in 1980. While the nation faced a period of relative decline, it made a triumphant return to the Olympic podium in 2021, winning bronze at the Tokyo Games. The team followed this with another bronze medal at the Paris Olympics earlier this year. India’s men’s hockey team boasts an impressive Olympic medal tally of eight gold, one silver, and four bronze, a testament to the legacy built by legends like Dhyan Chand, who continue to inspire generations of hockey players.
