Indian hockey players have carved a niche in the world of Hockey with their out standing and steady performances. They have made a mark in the international arena with consistently remarkable performances.
India has produced numerous highly talented and legendary hockey players so far. These players have contributed the most to make India one of the most prominent nations in world hockey. Their greatest victories came very early on, during Indian Hockey`s golden age from 1928 to 1956, when the Indian team won the Olympic Gold for six consecutive times.
The recent Indian Hockey players, despite a daunting tradition have still held their own and performed with distinction in several international tournaments. Hockey in India has quite an old history. Hockey started to be played in India during the second half of the 19th century. The game became popular in India during the British period, and the British army regiments used the play the game regularly. After getting enough knowledge about the game, the Indian hockey players started to show their talents in the international arena. India played hockey for the first time, in the 1928 Olympic Games held in Amsterdam.
Sardara Singh
Sardara Singh is an Indian professional field hockey player. He was the captain of the Indian national team.
Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh
Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh is an Indian field hockey player and plays as a goalkeeper in the Indian national team and is its current captain.
Harmanpreet Singh
Harmanpreet Singh is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a defender. He was named in the Indian squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Rupinder Pal Singh
Rupinder Pal Singh is an Indian professional field hockey player. He plays as a fullback and is known for his abilities as one of the best drag flicker in the world. Rupinder Pal Singh is one of promising talent in the Indian hockey team. He represented India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow.
Manpreet Singh
Manpreet Singh is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a halfback. He first played for India in 2011 at the age of 19.
Kothajit Singh Khadangbam
Kothajit Singh Khadangbam is a midfielder on national hockey team. He represented India in Men`s Hockey during the 2012 London Olympics.
Dhyan Chand
Dhyan Chand was an Indian field hockey player, who is considered as one the greatest field hockey players of all time. He is known for his extraordinary goal-scoring feats, in addition to earning three Olympic gold medals (1928, 1932, and 1936) in field hockey, during an era where India was the most dominant team in Hockey.
Sannuvanda Kushalappa Uthappa
Sannuvanda Kushalappa Uthappa is an Indian professional field hockey player who plays as an attacking midfielder for the Indian national team and Kalinga Lancers at the Hockey India League.
Surender Kumar
Surender Kumar is an Indian field hockey player, who was part of the national team that participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics. He is from Karnal District of Haryana.
Vokkaliga Ramachandra Raghunath
Vokkaliga Ramachandra Raghunath is an Indian professional field hockey player. He plays as a fullback and is known for his abilities as a drag flicker.
Somwarpet Vittalacharya Sunil
Somwarpet Vittalacharya Sunil is an Indian professional field hockey player. He represented India during the 2012 London Olympics.
Akashdeep Singh
Akashdeep Singh is an Indian professional field hockey player who plays as a forward for Uttar Pradesh Wizards in the Hockey India League and the India hockey team.
Danish Mujtaba
Danish Mujtaba is an Indian professional field hockey player. He made his debut for the national team in 2009. He represented India during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Devindar Sunil Walmiki
Devindar Sunil Walmiki is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a midfielder. He was named in the Indian squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Chinglensana Singh
Chinglensana Singh is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a halfback. He made his debut in the Indian team in 2012, and plays for Dabang Mumbai in the Hockey India League.
Ramandeep Singh
Ramandeep Singh is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a forward. He was named in the Indian squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Chandanda Nikkin Thimmaiah
Chandanda Nikkin Thimmaiah is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a forward. He was named in the Indian squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Prominent Former Indian Hockey Players
Some of the renowned Indian hockey players India have ever produced are Dhanraj Pillay,Dhyan Chand, Leslie Claudius, Balbir Singh Sr, Ajit Pal Singh, Udham Singh, K. D. Singh,Mohammed Shahid, Roop Singh, Baboo Nimal, Hiranna M. Nimal, Gurbax Singh Grewal, B. P. Govinda, Ajit Pal Singh, Ashok Kumar, Aslam Sher Khan, M. P. Ganesh, Surjit Singh,Zafar Iqbal, Jude Felix, Jugraj Singh, Balbir Singh, Sr., Sabu Varkey, Prithipal Singh, Viren Rasquinha, Pargat Singh, Dilip Tirkey, Vasudevan Baskaram, Jalaluddin Rizvi and Gagan Ajit Singh.
Indian Hockey Players in Olympics
India dominated the world of hockey for quite a long period from 1928 to 1956 and the period is considered as the golden era of hockey in India. Indian players successfully won six consecutive Gold medals in the Olympic Games during this period. During the period, India played 24 Olympic matches and won all of them. Indian hockey players scored a huge 178 goals in those matches and conceded only seven goals. India continued its glorious run in the 1960 Olympic Games also, and reached the finals, without losing a single match. That increased the total tally of India`s consecutive victory in Olympics to 28; however, it came to an end when Pakistan defeated India in the final match. Indian hockey players came back wonderfully in the year 1964 Tokyo Olympics and successfully reclaimed the Gold medal. They won the Gold medal once again in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Indian hockey associations have been working relentlessly for bringing out new talented hockey players, who would represent the country in the international arena. The Indian hockey players play a large number of national as well as international tournaments throughout the year. Indian national hockey tournaments are playing a significant role for the development of hockey in India, as young players get noticed while playing in these tournaments.
