Indian hockey team captains at the Olympics: From Jaipal Munda to Harmanpreet Singh - full list
Harmanpreet Singh was the captain of the Indian men’s hockey team at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
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When Harmanpreet Singh walked out at Paris 2024, he became the 22nd captain to lead an Indian men’s hockey team at the Olympics. He led a successful campaign where the Indian hockey team, who bagged a bronze, won successive medals at the Olympics for the first time since Munich 1972.
Manpreet Singh was the captain of the Indian hockey team at Tokyo 2020, where India ended a 41-year wait for an Olympic hockey medal with a bronze. He joined an illustrious list that includes legends like Dhyan Chand, Kunwar Digvijay Singh and Balbir Singh (senior), among others, who have had the honour of leading the Indian squad out at the Summer Games.
Jaipal Singh Munda was the first captain of an Indian hockey team at the Olympics when they won gold on debut at Amsterdam 1928.
Syed Lal Shah Bokhari, who led the Indian hockey team to another gold medal at Los Angeles 1932, became a diplomat later for Pakistan post India’s independence and partition.
Dhyan Chand (Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932, Berlin 1936) and Balbir Singh Dosanjh (London 1948, Helsinki 1952, Melbourne 1956) were each part of three gold-medal winning Indian hockey teams.
Dhyan Chand was the skipper for the 1936 edition while Balbir Singh Sr. captained the team at the 1956 Melbourne Games.
Leslie Claudius went a step further, winning four hockey medals at the Olympics, including three gold and a silver (Rome 1960). He himself oversaw the 1960 triumph.
India had joint captains for the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, when Gurbux Singh and Prithipal Singh led the side to a bronze medal.
Pargat Singh is the only man to lead India in field hockey at two Olympics. He was captain for Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996.
Tamil Nadu’s Vasudevan Baskaran, the Indian skipper at Moscow 1980, remains the last Olympics gold-medal winning captain of an Indian hockey team.
For women, Rupa Saini was the captain at Moscow 1980, where women’s hockey made its Games debut. India narrowy missed out on a bronze medal after finishing fourth.
Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam took up the mantle when the Indian women’s hockey team qualified next for the Olympics at Rio 2016 after a 36-year-long hiatus.
Forward Rani Rampal was in charge of the Indian women’s hockey team’s campaign at Tokyo 2020. India once again finished fourth, losing to Great Britain 4-3 in the bronze medal match.