So much to learn from Dhyan Chand on his birthday and National Sports Day. It starts with his name. He was born Dhyan Singh, but once he joined his regiment, he had very little time in the day to practice, so he practiced at night, by moonlight and was given the name Dhyan Chand

He could innovate. In the 1935 tour of New Zealand, the Kiwis left the grass long in all areas except the penalty area, to stop the Indian passing and dribbling. Dhyan and his brother Roop countered by keeping the ball in the air on their sticks and still scored five goals.

He did not allow his hockey or service with the Indian army to take away from what he felt was moral and correct. According to his son, Ashok Kumar, he sheltered Chandrashekhar Azad at his house in Jhansi when the police was in hot pursuit.

He was totally focussed on the game. After India suffered a shock defeat against Germany in an exhibition game before Berlin '36, he immediately asked for Ali Dara to be flown in from India.Dara came and was a vital part of the Indian Olympic victory & later captained Pakistan

Great reading of his sport. In the finals of the Berlin Olympics, he realized the rain had made the pitch difficult. Dhyan Chand discarded his spikes at half time, played with rubber soles and totally transformed the game. India scored goals right at the start of that half.

He had a sense of humour. When Jawaharlal Nehru met Dhyan Chand in 1952 when he had come for the Padma Bhushan award, he jokingly asked him for one of his medals as he had so many on his chest. And Dhyan Chand quipped, "On you Nehruji, only the rose looks good."

Will finish with a story about him & the actor & singer KL Saigal. Saigal in 1937 was the biggest Indian star. Prithviraj Kapoor took Saigal to watch Dhyan Chand in a match in Mumbai. But till half time, neither Dhyan Chand nor his brother Roop could score.

When Saigal met them at half time, he expressed his disappointment. The brothers asked him if he would sing a song for them for every goal they scored in the second half. He agreed. They scored 12 goals in the second half, Dhyan Chand getting 8 & Roop Singh 4.