Anglo-Indians in Hockey                                                                                        

When India decided to send her hockey team to the Amsterdam Olympic in 1928, Great Britain the defending champion withdrew their team! It seemed that Great Britain was afraid of their prized-colony beating the master at the latter’s own game.

Prior to 1928, twice the hockey event was held at the Olympic Games, first in 1908 at London and then at Antwerp in 1920. Both the times GB was the winner. It was indeed surprising to find the defending champion GB withdrawing at India’s participation. Was it a political defeat at the time of India’s nationalist movement? Strange are the ways of politicians around the world.

In 1928 at Amsterdam in Holland, debutant India won all her five matches by convincing margins. While Dhyan Chand and company were doing wonders up ahead, the citadel was in the safe custody of the Anglo-Indian community.

Apart from Dhyan Chand the core of the team were all from the highly versatile Anglo-Indian community. According to David Wallechinsky, the authority on Olympic history, out of 14 members there were no less than nine Anglo-Indians from Bengal, Punjab, Central Provinces and United Provinces in the gold-winning combination: Eric Penniger (deputy captain), Richard Allen, Michael Rocque, Leslie Hammond, William Cullen, Rex Norris, Maurice Gateley, George Marthins and Frederic Seaman.

The tough and talented team of diverse backgrounds showed the world what fortitude meant. Not even one goal was scored against India in five matches! Wizard Dhyan Chand’s men scored 29 goals.

The outstanding goalkeeper from Calcutta, young and fearless Richard Allen began the trend of attack from the goal-line itself. The strong, swarthy man was a stumbling block which no power in the world could penetrate.

Eric Penniger of Punjab was the link between the defence and the offence. He was a master in the area of distribution. Matured and a natural leader, Penninger wore the mantle of deputy-captain with dignity and pride. Central Provinces’ Rex Norris was the pivot in the mid-field. He was an outstanding play-maker with all-round skills. An excellent game-analyst, he was a born mentor of players.

Thankfully the India hockey team to Amsterdam in 1928 combined very well and began a tradition of unity in diversity. A lot of credit should go to the manager AB Rosser, an Anglo-Indian from Bengal who was firm yet friendly and totally unbiased. He stamped his authority in no uncertain manner and skipper, the highly-connected Jaipal Singh, had to leave the team during the course of the tournament.

In the following Olympic in 1932 at Los Angeles, there were eight Anglo-Indians in the Indian Olympic squad. Carlyle Tapsell, Frank Brewin, Richard Carr, William Sullivan and Arthur HInd joined the experienced Allen, Hammond and Penniger. The very knowledgeable, mid-field exponent Rex Norris was no longer around. Up ahead, Dhyan Chand’s younger brother, the brilliant Roop Singh was an automatic choice.

Again Dhyan Chad was not given the captaincy. The curse of ‘royalty to lead’ remained. Surprisingly Eric Penniger, who was the deputy captain at Amsterdam four years ago and was being thought of as the ideal person to lead the team, was eased out. An average player of influential background Lal Shah Bokhari arrived from UK and was asked to lead!

In his first Olympic in 1932, an Anglo-Indian from Calcutta Carlyle Tapsell gave the world a notice of his class and composure. He was simply superb in his defensive role. India let in just two goals at Los Angeles in 1932, while scoring 35 in 2 matches. The man guarding the goal happened to be the one and only Richard Allen. He exuded confidence and inspired his mates from his goal-line with constant encouragement.

At the Berlin Olympics in 1936 the candidature of Dhyan Chand as the captain could no longer be suppressed. In any case he was the undisputed leader of the team since 1928, but now he also became the formal captain. With Roop Singh around there was little reason to worry about the attack.

In defence, the presence of Tapsell once again gave one the reassurance of old. This time too there were eight Anglo-Indians serving India: Allen, Tapsell, Earnest Cullen, Joseph Phillip, Paul Fernandes, Lionel Emmett, Cyril Michie and Joseph Galibardy.

And of course guarding the citadel with pads on was the master, Richard Allen. Along with Dhyan Chand, Allen held a permanent place in the India Olympic teams from 1928 to 1936 (3 Olympics). Unfortunately the legendary Allen has not been remembered in India today. No one has the time and the inclination to worry about a sportsman who won 3 gold medals for India at the Olympics!

First heard about the grand performances of Allen and Tapsell from my father in the late 1950s. Later in 1967 from our school games-master at St Xavier's, James Brown, the former goalie with Calcutta’s BN Railway (now South Eastern Railway). He missed the India colours only because of the perennial presence of the great Shankar Laxman.

At a time when we in India are bending backwards trying to highlight the non-medalists as well as mere participants at Olympic Games, we have little interest in the exploits of men who brought glory to the nation in the Olympic Games in the past.

Apart from the immortal and legendary Leslie Claudius, no other Anglo-Indian hockey player has been shown an iota of the gratitude that he deserved. The exceptional Claudius – a product of post-independent India – with three gold and one silver medals in four Olympic Games is an all-time role model for any sportsman of any sports discipline. He was too important to be ignored.

But what about the rest from the Anglo-Indian community of the pre-independence era? Penniger, Hammond and Tapsell have won two gold medals each for India in two outings. Richard Allen improved on that to get three gold medals in three Games. Yet how many of our country’s youth have been told of their contribution to the national cause?

The Anglo-Indians played hockey not for money. Their progeny are not asking for financial assistance. Not even bothered about awards and recognition.

The Anglo-Indian community in India displayed superlative hockey skills and established India’s credentials as world champions.If we have any sense of gratitude, then it is our obligation to acknowledge their contribution. By honouring them today, we would merely be rectifying a wrong done and continued for so many decades.

Why can we not give them some kind of recognition in posterity? Why do we not rewrite our sports history by acknowledging that the Anglo-Indians helped to make India the world hockey champions? Who is stopping us from spilling out the truth? Why are we dishonest to our own selves? What have we gained by not heralding the glorious achievements of these champion athletes?

So low is our self-esteem that today we like to glorify sportsmen who are mired in controversies; we eulogize sportsmen who are lackeys of political parties and we love to honour those sportspeople who are close to the seats of power and influence.

This happens to be the sports culture of modern India. Shall we live to see a turnaround?

Pankaj Gupta with Nazi minister Goebbels at Berlin in 1936

Pankaj Gupta, the mercurial sports ambassador.                              

While there is a long tradition in India of doling out sports-team managership to sycophants and stooges, it is worth relating that  we actually possessed a manager who was rated very highly by no less a discerning persona than Sir Donald Bradman in his book Farewell to Cricket. Sir Don christened him ‘Peter’ out of respect for the man’s personality and prowess.

While in Australia with the India team in1947-48, Pankaj Gupta was at the peak of his eventful career as a sports administrator. When Sir Don was making mincemeat of the Indian bowling, the Aussie media became very critical of Bradman for his ruthlessness. But Gupta, the proud manager, would have none of it. He and his captain Lala Amarnath categorically stated that India had come to play Australia on equal terms and expected no condescending treatment.

Pankaj Gupta holds a unique place in India’s sports history. Thrice he went to the Olympics as a hockey-official but never as the prime manager! In 1932 he went to Los Angeles Olympics as the non-playing captain. In 1936 to Berlin as assistant manager. In the next Olympic at London in 1948 as 2^nd official. In all three Olympics India won the gold medal. If he was not a playing member, why was he sent at all? Why was he so desperately needed between 1932 and 1948?

There were many aspirants to the manager’s role. People who stayed in close proximity to the powers-that-be in expectation of favours. As is the typical Indian administrative system, these ‘favoured’ individuals were designated as ‘manager’ to keep the various member-State associations happy. Most managers did and still do go for a vacation and have fun.

But the IOA President, Maharaja of Patiala Yadavendra  Singh – pioneer and primary patron of Indian sport – well knew that India needed a man of Pankaj Gupta’s personality and knowledge to uphold the country’s self-respect and the team’s interest. Although Gupta was not ‘close’ to any of the influential royals, he was considered indispensable to India’s success. That is the kind of reputation he had.

As an official of the touring India hockey teams during their glory years in the 1930s and 1940s, Gupta was a father-figure to Dhyan Chand, Roop Singh, Allen, Tapsell, Jaffer, Claudius and company. He earned everyone’s – Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and all others – respect for his transparency, generosity, complete lack of bias and no less for his knowledge of sports and sportsmen. He was a master in man-management. Supreme as a mentor he was, as the maestro Dhyan Chand always acknowledged.

Before 1947 India, played in the Olympics not as an independent nation, but as a British colony. Gupta motivated every player to consider himself a freedom-fighter battling for the cause of independent India. Dhyan Chand, no less, considered Pankaj Gupta to be his patron-saint.

Dhyan Chand’s bonding with Gupta went far beyond the confines of the hockey ground. He would seek blessings on Guru Purnima. Whenever Dhyan Chand came to play at Calcutta, he would stay at Gupta’s residence. So close was he that it is believed Gupta became the ‘ghost’ who assisted Dhyan Chand to pen his autobiography Goal.

Gupta could write and speak as the best. Courageous and forthright, the energetic man earned universal acclaim. His after-dinner speeches – a most essential formality of those grand old days – could be bold and witty; courteous and commanding. At technical committee meetings his was always a commanding presence. No Indian team was taken for granted when mercurial Peter Gupta was at the helm.

The highly respected sports journalist of yesteryears, Sunil Bose was Pankaj Gupta’s junior colleague at Amrita Bazar Patrika in Calcutta. Gupta was the sports editor for 20 years at a time when the newspaper was associated with India’s freedom struggle. Sunil Bose, himself a State-ranked badminton player, related an amazing incident involving Pankaj Gupta and Nazi Germany.

 In 1936 when the Indian hockey team was at Berlin for the Olympics, assistant manager Pankaj Gupta rushed onto the road and forced Joseph Goebbels, the German Propaganda Minister, to stop his motorcade! The Nazi guards were taken aback. Before they could react, Gupta calmly walked up to the minister, shook hands with him and wished him on behalf of India as the common enemy of Great Britain!

No situation daunted him. No personality overwhelmed him. He was a self-made man with a passion for sport. His oratory gave India a shining image. His diplomacy made India a treasured friend. His passion for sports left him with no time for politicking. And so after almost of two decades of rare excellence, he became a victim at the hands of people he had helped to establish.

Gupta, as the manager of the Indian cricket team to England in 1952, selected Vinoo Mankad, who was omitted by the national selectors from the touring squad, to play the 2^nd Test at Lord’s! Mankad went on to display one of the greatest-ever individual all-round performances in the history of cricket. The match came to be known as ‘Mankad’s Test’. This incident itself is a fascinating story to relate. Another time. Another day.

Without the intervention of the mercurial manager Pankaj Gupta, Vinoo Mankad – among the greatest all-rounders in the world – would not have played the Test and it is highly doubtful whether he would ever have played for India again.

This was Gupta at his best. Once convinced, he would anything for India’s prestige. He had no time for personal gain or for personal fame. No selfish motive ever clouded his judgement. His mission was to uphold India’s image high in the international sports arena. A role he played with great distinction both at hockey as well as at cricket. Not for no reason the selfless Maharaja of Patiala chose Pankaj Gupta to be with the Indian contingent, particularly hockey. The magnificent administrator Patiala knew his man.

I saw Pankaj Gupta just once, in 1969. He was the chief guest at a function organized by Mohun Bagan Athletic Club to honour the players from its various disciplines for winning all the local trophies. Pankaj Gupta spoke for hardly five minutes. He lambasted the club officials for organizing such lavish functions instead of utilizing the money to provide more facilities to junior players. Even as a teenager, I could feel the integrity and the commitment inherent in him. 

Surprisingly for an Indian sports administrator, he was far, far above provincial or communal bias. He had no time for ‘favourites’. Media people with shallow ideas and statistical obsession often misunderstood him. But little did he care. None ever dared to confront him. No time he had for the influential. Nor would he suffer fools. He carved a distinct niche for himself.

While he earned wide respect from all his players, in India many influential sports administrators despised him but none found the courage to confront him. He became very popular among the sportspeople in India for his brave and unbiased approach. The Indian sports media however never gave him his rightful due.

Once a sports journalist asked him about the omission of a certain player from some matches at the London Olympics in1948. Point-blank Pankaj Gupta raised his eye-brows, “Which team won the hockey gold in London? India? Then I do not care who played and who did not play. Never believed in favouritism or individualism. For me India first, India last, India in-between. Full stop.”

Tapan Ghosh of Ananda Bazar Patrika, a man who probably pioneered investigative sports journalism in India, met Pankaj Gupta several times at the latter’s Park Circus residence in Calcutta. Ghosh always maintained, “He was by far the best sports administrator we have ever had. Had a distinctive style and an excellent command of the English language. Amazing knowledge of sports history and the laws, particularly of hockey and cricket. Till the very end, he sported the famous Hitler-moustache and carried an ornamental walking stick.”

Indian Hockey Federation and Indian Football Association were both established at Calcutta in the 1920s. The chief architect happened to be the stocky man from Chittagong (now in Bangladesh). Then in his twenties, the young man’s exceptional administrative prowess was not lost on the Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupendra Singh, whose visionary spirit and awesome patronage paved the way for the development of India’s sport in the early days. Bhupendra’s son Yadavendra too followed in his father’s foot-steps regarding Gupta of Bengal.

Pankaj Gupta was the founder member of the National Cricket Club, which happened to be the custodian of Eden Gardens before CAB took over in the 1950s. Pankaj Gupta expired in 1971 after a glorious lifetime in the service of sport, particularly hockey and cricket.

CAB named the new indoor cricket facility at Eden Gardens after him. At its inauguration in 1979, as the current captain of the Bengal State team, I acknowledged that it was an honour to speak on Pankaj Gupta’s contribution to sport and described him as a sports ambassador nonpareil.

Although the Government of India could not find any award for him, ironically the British Government awarded him a MBE (Member of the British Empire) for his services to sports administration in 1944.

He was the perfect embodiment of a sports ambassador. Totally undaunted and forever free, all along Pankaj Gupta remained a singular man with a singular purpose: to uphold India’s prestige and image in the international sports arenas. Nihil Ultra.

Raj Bhai: the one and only

Raj Singh had a distinguished presence. Left a distinct mark in whatever he said or did. Heads would turn and be riveted to observe or to listen to the man. As the scion of the royal family of Dungarpur, his was an appearance of grace and graciousness. Handsome of profile and dignified of bearing, he gave every impression of a charming person who was confident of his ability and aware of his responsibility.

I first saw him at Eden Gardens while he was leading the Central Zone team in the early 1960s. At the car park, after doing a namaste to an elderly woman he put his hands in his trouser pockets and brought out the notes and coins for the feeble, shivering hand that stretched more in despair than hope. As a 13-year old lad I had never seen anyone giving alms in such a generous and genteel manner.  Captivated I was. The gentleman captured my imagination.

His gentleness continued with the floating out-swingers he trundled in that Duleep Trophy tie. No, there was little by way of athleticism as the burly man jogged in to bowl. But he kept me amused with his regal disdain for the boundaries that resulted from his bowling. The batters seemed comfortable and happy. It appeared that Raj Singh was as happy to see the ball lose its shine! Within two or three overs, he tossed the ball to Salim Durani to replace him at the bowling crease!

Much, much later I came to know that Raj Singh was the benefactor of almost the full Central Zone team, the majority of whom resided and played cricket in Bombay. Raj Singh happened to be the patron-saint of eminent Indian cricketers over decades, which included Vinoo Mankad, Vijay Manjrekar and Salim Durani. He would have his heart and purse-strings open for all those who wished to give their cricket service to his State of Rajasthan.

Dungarpur might be a little speck on the desert land, but Raj Bhai had a heart as big and fertile as one could wish for. There was nothing small or vague about him. Every action of his reeked of fullness and purpose. He was all transparency and trust. Although he held prominent posts at BCCI, he never quite belonged to the petty jealousies and the back-stabbing ways that engulfed his colleagues. He was his own man; had a mind and voice of his own. Quick to take decisions, he relied on his strong personality to overcome all oppositions. Never bothered to have ‘friends’ in the media.

He was at the nucleus of various storms in Indian cricket. Sachin Tendulkar’s Test debut at 16. Omission of Mohinder Amarnath. Mohammed Azharuddin’s elevation to India captaincy. The Greg Chappell issue. All these and more he traversed in style and splendor. He spoke and acted from the heart. Used his head not for himself but for the nation’s cause. Totally free from meanness and prejudice, he was respected all over the country. None was able to refute or contradict him.

On various occasions I had the scope to meet him, generally at the Cricket Club of India CCI) in Bombay. And also at his hotel-residence opposite the Lord’s cricket ground in London.  Treated me as his younger brother. We generally conversed on cricket of years passed. I would ask him numerous questions on world cricket and contemporary issues. But never would we discuss Indian cricket as he was in the heart of it. At Polly Umrigar’s chamber in the erstwhile BCCI office at the Churchgate end of CCI’s Brabourne Stadium, we spent moments discussing benefits for former Indian first-class players.

Once when I submitted an issue raised by the former cricketer PC Poddar, a very bright individual, about the neglect of eastern zone, Raj Bhai smiled, “Oh! No. Not PC. He is an eccentric fellow!” Ever the statesman, Polly Umrigar acknowledged PC’s proposal but settled the matter, “Raju, we cannot have different set of rules for different zones. It will only create new problems.”

Another occasion worth remembering was in London. In 2000, perhaps. At Oxford Street Selfridges someone patted me on the shoulder. Turned round to find Raj Bhai smiling! He introduced his companion Lata Mangeshkar to me and my wife. The two couples exchanged the usual courtesies and went on our own ways. Just goes to show the exquisite quality of a real gentleman. He could have ignored me. In fact I had not even noticed him. But the magnanimous man took the trouble to draw my attention and introduced us to a lady who obviously needed no formal intro.

Once I was having a quick lunch alone at CCI on my reciprocal membership. In walked Raj Singh with his guests numbering may be three. He stopped at my table and asked me to join his group. I excused myself, “Raj Bhai, please carry on. I have some work to attend to.” Gave me his million-dollar smile and settled down to lunch with his guests. That’s the kind of host he was.

Another occasion was in the mid-1990s. With the Bengal State under-19 team I was stranded in Bombay on our way back to Calcutta from Poona. Approached Polly Umrigar to help with the accommodation for the 15 children and two adults. Polly Kaka telephoned Raj Bhai and our team of 17 heads was given complimentary accommodation at CCI without any delay. That is the kind of people they were. No ego. No unnecessary self-importance. Every player of that Bengal U-19 team remembers Raj Singh for his magnanimity.

My last recollection of Raj Bhai was again at CCI. I knew he was on his final days. He was staying at CCI with only a nurse in attendance. I gently knocked on the door and the attending lady-nurse peeped out and said, “Sorry. He should not be disturbed.” Asked her, “May I stand at the door and just have a look at him?” She relented and asked me to enter the room. As I neared the bed with my hands folded, instead of the baritone voice, a feeble sound “Raaajo,” emanated and evaporated into thin air. As I was leaving, the lady-nurse said, “Only word he has mumbled in the last two days! Hardly anybody comes to meet him these days.”

The final moments came within a few days. One of the ironies of life was being staged right in front of my eyes: people who have taken help are the first to vanish when one is unable to help any more. Certainly not always, but more often than not. Que sera, sera.

He wore many caps: first-class cricketer, State captain, national selector, expert commentator, India team manager, BCCI official, CCI president etc. In every step he left behind indelible footprints with his selfless contribution.

 I am told he could be quite whimsical in his attitude. If one did not catch his fancy, I understand Raj Bhai would ignore the person. He would get upset with unreliable, concocted reporting and developed an antipathy towards the irresponsible media. He was close to the knowledgeable cricket writer Rajan Bala and would frequently get into serious discussions with the eminent journalist. I happened to be present at one such meet at the CCI in the 1990s.

If some thought of him as an eccentric man with out-dated ideas, I never found him to be so. He was remarkably liberal in his views, open to contemporary ideas and a willing listener. I found him to be extremely open-minded as he discussed facilities to cricketers including pension for former first-class players with Polly Umrigar.

The knowledgeable erstwhile prince of Dungarpur was full of earnestness, enthusiasm and enterprise. Never found him to be idiosyncratic, as some claimed him to be. On the contrary, the massive frame brimmed of integrity and initiative.

He lived his life to the full. Also let others live their lives to the full. Forever he stood straight and tall. The baritone voice said it all…

He was a treasure of Indian cricket.