The Most Famous

HOCKEY PLAYERS from India

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This page contains a list of the greatest Indian Hockey Players. The pantheon dataset contains 676 Hockey Players, 1 of which were born in India. This makes India the birth place of the 25th most number of Hockey Players behind Estonia, and South Africa.

Top 9

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Indian Hockey Players of all time. This list of famous Indian Hockey Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Roop Singh

1. Roop Singh (1908 - 1977)

With an HPI of 37.72, Roop Singh is the most famous Indian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages on wikipedia.

Roop Singh (8 September 1908 – 16 December 1977) was an Indian hockey player. He was part of the Indian field hockey team, which won gold medals for India at the 1932 and 1936 Olympic Games. He was the younger brother of Dhyan Chand.

Photo of Joseph Galibardy

2. Joseph Galibardy (1915 - 2011)

With an HPI of 35.94, Joseph Galibardy is the 2nd most famous Indian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Joseph Deville Thomas Galibardy (10 January 1915 – 17 May 2011) was an Indian field hockey player who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1936 he was a member of the Indian field hockey team, which won the gold medal. He played five matches as halfback. Galibardy was born in Madras and received his school education from Goethals Memorial School, Kurseong in India. He visited his alma-mater, when Goethals celebrated its centenary in the year 2007 at the age of 93. Goethals Memorial School is also the alma-mater of his teammate Cyril Michie. Galibardy moved to England in 1956 and lived in Walthamstow, London at the time of his death. He was the last surviving member of the 1936 Indian field hockey team that won the gold medal.

Photo of Randhir Singh Gentle

3. Randhir Singh Gentle (1922 - 1981)

With an HPI of 33.95, Randhir Singh Gentle is the 3rd most famous Indian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Randhir Singh Gentle (September 22, 1922 – September 25, 1981) was an Indian field hockey player and coach. He was part of the Indian team that won three consecutive gold medals in the Summer Olympics, from 1948 to 1956. Gentle is one of only seven Indians to have won three gold medals at the Games, all of them in men's field hockey.

Photo of P. R. Sreejesh

4. P. R. Sreejesh (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 20.75, P. R. Sreejesh is the 4th most famous Indian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh is an Indian field hockey player from Kerala who plays as a goalkeeper and former captain of the Indian national team.He is regarded as the World's best goal keeper of his generation. He plays in the Hockey India League for Uttar Pradesh Wizards. Sreejesh played a vital role in the Indian national team's bronze medal win at the 2020 Summer Olympics men's field hockey tournament. He won FIH Player of the Year Awards (2020–21) for best male goalkeeper. Since winning gold in 2014 Asian Games he won gold medal again in 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. He won a total of 16 international medals in his career until 2023 from Olympics, FIH Hockey World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Asian tournaments combined.

Photo of Surender Kumar

5. Surender Kumar (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 18.86, Surender Kumar is the 5th most famous Indian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Surender Kumar (born 23 November 1993) is an Indian field hockey player, who plays as a defender for the Indian national team. He was born to Malkhan Singh and Neelam Devi on 23 November 1993 in Ror community. He is from Karnal, Haryana. He was part of the Indian hockey team that participated in the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Vandana Katariya

6. Vandana Katariya (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 15.99, Vandana Katariya is the 6th most famous Indian Hockey Player.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Vandana Katariya (born 15 April 1992) is an Indian field hockey player. She plays as a forward in the Indian national team. Vandana rose to prominence in 2013, being India's top goal-scorer in the 2013 Women's Hockey Junior World Cup, where India won a bronze medal; she scored five goals in the tournament, the third by any player. Kataria has played for the senior national team in more than 200 international matches. She was a part of the Indian team that won a bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games and represented India at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She has cited Argentine Luciana Aymar as her favorite player. In March 2022, Kataria was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, in recognition of her distinguished contribution in the field of sports.

Photo of Harmanpreet Singh

7. Harmanpreet Singh (b. 1996)

With an HPI of 12.68, Harmanpreet Singh is the 7th most famous Indian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Harmanpreet Singh is an Indian field hockey player who plays as a defender for and captains the Indian national team. He is a penalty corner specialist and is regarded as one of the best drag flickers in the world. Singh made his debut in the junior national team in 2014 at the Sultan of Johor Cup. After being named player of the tournament at the 2014 edition of the same tournament, he made his senior debut the following year, against Japan. He made his debut at the Olympic Games in 2016. He was instrumental in India's third-place finish at the 2021–22 FIH Pro League, where he ended as top-scorer with 18 goals. He won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and was also instrumental in his team's silver medal win at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and captained his team to a gold medal win at the 2022 Asian Games. Singh was named Men's Player of the Year at FIH Player of the Year Awards for 2020–2021.

Photo of Amit Rohidas

8. Amit Rohidas (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 10.03, Amit Rohidas is the 8th most famous Indian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Amit Rohidas (born 10 May 1993) is an Indian field hockey player from Odisha. He plays as a defender for the Indian national team and is also the vice-captain of the team. He was a part of the Indian squad that won the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He also won gold medal in 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Photo of Birendra Lakra

9. Birendra Lakra (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 8.07, Birendra Lakra is the 9th most famous Indian Hockey Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Birendra Lakra (born 3 February 1990) is an Indian former field hockey player. He represented India in men's field hockey and recently came out of retirement alongside Rupinderpal Singh and captained the Indian team in the Asia Cup held in Jakarta, Indonesia to a bronze medal. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics also, he also served as the vice-captain of Indian team.

People

Pantheon has 9 people classified as Indian hockey players born between 1908 and 1996. Of these 9, 6 (66.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Indian hockey players include P. R. Sreejesh, Surender Kumar, and Vandana Katariya. The most famous deceased Indian hockey players include Roop Singh, Joseph Galibardy, and Randhir Singh Gentle. As of April 2024, 8 new Indian hockey players have been added to Pantheon including Roop Singh, Randhir Singh Gentle, and P. R. Sreejesh.

Living Indian Hockey Players

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Deceased Indian Hockey Players

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Newly Added Indian Hockey Players (2024)

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