Dhyan Chand- India's first sporting legend

Years pass by, Generations pass by, but some people are never ever forgotten! Major Dhyan Chand is one of them! Today, India celebrates the birth anniversary of the greatest man ever to grace the hockey field! Here are some quotes on the WIZARD of hockey!

"He scores goals as runs in cricket' - Sir Don Bradman

"He is the greatest, yes I want him in my team but he is too patriotic to come here" - Adolf Hitler, after Dhyan Chand straight away rejected his tempting proposal of 

joining the German team

"The Indian ball seems ignorant of the laws of gravity. One of those tanned diabolical jugglers stares at the ball intently; it gets upright and remains suspended in the air" - A Dutch newspaper

"The magician that he was, his moves frequently resulted in all the players, including the opponents, falling into a predictable pattern around him. Legends of his magic are innumerable" - An English newspaper after the demise of Dhayn Chand

"I score each and every goal as a gift to the god" - The legend himself

Its important that we never undermine the contribution of this man to the Indian sports. Dhyan Chand is to hockey what Pele is to football and Sir Don Bradman is to cricket. He is among the very elite group of legends in their respective sports. When they talk about greatest sports teams of all time, Indian hockey team from the 30's to 60's is right up there with the West Indies cricket team during the 70's and 80's and US Basket ball team which has been so dominant in the sport. 

There should not be any second thoughts about who the greatest Indian sports personality is and that is why he should be the most deserving athlete to get the prestigious Bharat Ratna. 

Indian hockey has seen more downs than ups since Dhyan Chand, but we wish that Hockey will soon regain its ground in the country and around the world. Maybe Hockey requires that one magic moment to revive its glory, a world cup win in 1983 did wonders to Indian Cricket. 

For a nation of over 1 billion, India has a small pool of sporting legends to whom the nation looks up to for inspiration. Individuals like Dhyan Chand make us love the game even more and they will keep inspiring the future generations to take up sports as a career. Dhyan Chand is not among us physically but India and the world of Hockey will always have a special place for him in the heart.  The magician of Hockey will keep living and inspiring for generations to come.