Menu

Kishan Lal (Tapan Das in GOLD) Age, Wife, Biography & More

Kishan Lal

Bio/Wiki
Real NameKishan Lal
Nicknames'Dada' or Dada of Indian Hockey
ProfessionFormer Hockey Player
Famous ForCaptaining Indian Hockey Team in the 1948 Olympics, that won Gold Medal
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)in centimeters- 170 cm
in meters- 1.70 m
in feet inches- 5’ 7”
Field Hockey
International DebutEast Africa Tour (1947)
Domestic/State TeamsMhow Heroes, Mhow Green Walls, Kalyanmal Mills, Jhansi Heroes, Bhagwant Club of Tikamgarh
Nature on FieldEnergetic
PositionsHalfback, Winger
MentorMaharaja Bir Singh Ju Dev
Awards, Honours, Achievements• During his captaincy, Team India won all the matches played at the 1948 London Olympic.
• In 1966, he was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the then President Dr. Sarvapalli Radha Krishnan.
Personal Life
Date of Birth2 February 1917
Age (At the time of Death) 63 Years
BirthplaceMhow (Officially known as Dr. Ambedkar Nagar) Central Province, British India
Date of Death22 June 1980
Place of DeathMadras (Now Chennai)
Place of CremationSion Crematorium, Mumbai
Zodiac sign/Sun signAquarius
NationalityIndian
HometownMhow, Madhya Pradesh
Educational QualificationNot Known
ReligionHinduism
HobbiesWatching Polo, Listening to Music
Girls, Affairs, and More
Marital StatusMarried
Family
Wife/SpouseName Not Known
ChildrenSons- Devki Lal (Hockey Coach, died on 21 September 2009), and three others
Daughter- 1
ParentsNames Not Known

Kishan Lal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Kishan Lal

  • Did Kishan Lal smoke?: Not Known
  • Did Kishan Lal drink alcohol?: Not Known
  • When he was a child, he became very interested in watching Polo. It is said that it was Polo that inclined him towards Hockey.
  • At the age of 14, he started to play field Hockey.

    Kishan Lal as an adult

    Kishan Lal as an adult

  • In childhood, Kishan Lal was snapped by an arrogant hawker and said ‘Who do you think you are? The son of a King? Do you have dinner with princes?’ Kishan retorted: ‘Don’t be so smart. One day, I’ll dine with the Prince of England.’ Amazingly, when India won the Olympic Gold, he dined with the Prince of England.
  • For some time, Kishan Lal played with the Hockey ace Dhyan Chand for Jhansi Heroes.

    Kishan Lal in red circle with Dhyan Chand and Governnor General Chakravorty Rajgopala Chari

    Kishan Lal (in a red circle) with Dhyan Chand and Governor General Chakravorty Rajgopala Chari

  • During that time, the captain of Bhagwant Club Hockey Team, Mr. M. N. Zutshi got impressed by his play and Kishan Lal was brought to the attention of the Maharaja Bir Singh Ju Dev, who helped Kishan Lal very much.
  • In 1941, he played for BB & CI Railway (Now, Western Railway). After some time, he played for Central India in the National Hockey Championship.
  • He was the member of the winning teams of Agha Khan Cup, Beighton Cup, Obaidullah Khan Cup and the Scindia Cup Tournaments.
  • In 1947, he was selected to the Indian Hockey Team for the first time and played under the captaincy of Dhyan Chand on the tour of East Africa.
  • In the 1948 Olympics, he was made the captain of the team and won the Gold medal after beating Great Britain by 4-0, in the final. It was the occasion of honour and Pride when India was performing for the first time as an Independent Nation and for the first time, the Indian Tri-colour was unfurled when National Anthem was played.

    Kishan Lal's Indian Hockey Team of 1948 Olympics

    Kishan Lal’s Indian Hockey Team of the 1948 Olympics

  • After winning the Gold medal in Olympics, a red carpet welcome was given to the team in Bombay.

    Kishan Lal's Indian Hockey Team in Bombay

    Kishan Lal’s Indian Hockey Team in Bombay

  • At that time, the then President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and the then Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, attended an exhibition match of the Olympic winning team.
  • Kishan Lal played hockey for 28 years and after retirement, he became a coach and trained the players like Balbir Singh, Harbinder Singh, Prithipal Singh and Mohinder Singh.
    Balbir Singh was trained by Kishan Lal

    Balbir Singh was trained by Kishan Lal

    Harbinder Singh was also trained by Kishan Lal

    Harbinder Singh was also trained by Kishan Lal

  • In 1964, he received the invitation from the Malaysian Hockey Board to train the Malaysian Team.
  • In 1968, Kishan Lal was invited to train East Germany.
  • In 2018, the GOLD movie was released, in which, actor Akshay Kumar portrayed the role of him as Tapan Das.