India Independence - From Olympics to Cricket: When 'free India' shined in the world of Sports

India stunned the world on its hockey debut in the Olympics. The Men in Blue, who were a colony of the British Empire back then, won their first-ever gold medal in the Amsterdam Olympics, 1928. 

This marked the beginning of something special. 

India hockey squad for Amsterdam 1928 Olympics: Jaipal Singh (captain), Broome Eric Pinninger (vice-captain), Syed M Yusuf, Richard J Allen, Michael E Roeque, Leslie C Hammond, Rex A Norris, William John Goodsir-Cullen, Kehar Singh Gill, Maurice A Gateley, Shaukat Ali, George E Marthins, Dhyan Chand, Feroze Khan and Frederick S Seaman

However, India went on to win 8 Gold medals in Hockey. Their last Olympics gold in Hockey came in 1980.

Did you know that the first-ever Asian Games were held in India? New Delhi became the first city to host the Games in the year 1951. India’s Lavy Pinto won the gold medal in the 100 & 200 metres sprints respectively. 11 countries participated in over 57 events. 

Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav was India's first-ever individual Olympic medalist. He won a bronze medal for India during the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He was a scrawny young man who took on the giants of the game with his technique and came third. 

India is still a developing country in terms football, However, in 1950 they qualified for the FIFA World Cup and were close to winning a medal in the Olympics. But, they withdrew before the 1950 FIFA World Cup could begin. 

They became the first Asian nation to reach the semi-final of a FIFA organized major tournament. India won gold at the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games, and finished fourth at the 1956 Summer Olympics after losing to Yugoslavia.  

Tennis ace Ramanathan Krishnan scripted history after he became the first Indian to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon. Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. His dream run at the All England Club came to an end after he was beaten by Australia's Neale Fraser, who went on to win the Championship.

Indian men's team was one of the most dominant teams in Hockey, they not only had back-to-back gold medals to prove it they also won the World Cup in 1975. 

India became the World Champions of cricket in the year 1983. Under the leadership of Kapil Dev, Team India took on some of the juggernauts of the game (like Australia and West Indies). They lifted the coveted trophy at the Lord's and it marked the beginning of India's love for cricket. 

India won their other World Cup in 2011 and MS Dhoni's iconic winning six still stays fresh in everyone's mind.  

India's Abhinav Bindra scripted history as he became the country's first-ever individual Gold-medallist. He achieved this feat during Beijing 2008 Olympics. He won gold in 10m Air Rifle event. 

Indian cricket added another golden chapter under the leadership of MS Dhoni. They won the coveted trophy after beating hosts England. India remained unbeaten in the entire tournament. 

Tokyo Olympics 2020 witnessed India's best-ever performance. India went on to win record 7 medals in the tournament. Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian athlete to win a gold in Track and Field event. Mirabai Chanu gave India a perfect start as she won her silver medal on the very first day of the event. PV Sindhu also became first Indian woman to become two-time Olympic medalist.