Mohammed Shahid (14 April 1960 – 20 July 2016) was an Indian

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

forward. He is considered one of India's best to have played the game and was known for his dribbling skills. He was a member of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. He was awarded Arjuna Award in 1980–1981 and Padma Shri in 1986.

Career

Shahid was born on 14 April 1960 in

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. He made his first appearance for India in the junior team in 1979 at the Junior World Cup in France. Shahid made his first senior team appearance the same year in a four-nation tournament in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

under the captaincy of Vasudevan Baskaran, after his inclusion in the team following his impressive performance in the Aga Khan Cup. During his playing days, Shahid was known for his running ability, dribbling of the ball and push which was as fast as a hard hit. His attacking partnership on the field with Zafar Iqbal was well known.

"Zafar at left-out and Shahid at right-in positions penetrated the best of the defences around the world with their superb understanding and passing of the ball. Zafar also pointed utthat Shahid was instrumental in the V. Baskaran-led India winning the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games. “Shahid played a crucial role for India in that Olympics, otherwise we would have been acingdifficulty,” Zafar, who was part of that team, pointed ut"

He was awarded the 'Best Forward player' at the 1980 Champions Trophy in Karachi. He was a member of the team that won the gold at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

in Moscow, silver at the

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games (), also known as Delhi 1982 (), were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of the Olymp ...

and bronze at the

1986 Asian Games The 1986 Asian Games (), officially known as the 10th Asian Games and the X Asiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1986 (), were held from 20 September to 5 October 1986, in Seoul, South Korea. The venues and facilities of the 10th Asiad were the sa ...

. He also played in the World Cup in Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1981–82, the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 and the Seoul Games in 1988. His skill and ability at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games earned him a place in the Asian All-Star team in 1986. He captained the Indian team during 1985–86. He announced his retirement from international hockey in January 1989. His biggest contribution to the game of field hockey was the 'half push- half hit'- a stroke he used to hit the ball using the same grip used to dribble the ball. With the left hand on top of the handle and the right half low down around the centre of the stick he used to essay this shot with a minimum back lift and slam the ball towards his partner-teammate to make an early and accurate pass. The same stroke was adapted by his successor Dhanraj Pillay, who was an ardent fan of the maestro. Shahid was the product of the Sports College Lucknow from where emerged a few other stars of the 1980s like

Ravinder Pal Singh Ravinder Pal Singh (6 September 1960 – 8 May 2021) was an Indian field hockey player and former banker. He was well known as a prominent centre-half during his playing days from 1979 to 1984. He was part of the Indian hockey team that won th ...

, his teammate at the Moscow Olympics (1980), Rajinder Singh Rawat who played in goal in the Los Angeles Olympics (1984) and many others who went on to don the national colours at the junior and senior international level. The Sports College and Hostels were the brainchild of another famous star of the 1950s

Kunwar Digvijay Singh Kunwar Digvijay Singh (2 February 1922 – 27 March 1978), popularly known as "Babu", was an Indian field hockey player. He was born in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. He is widely known for his passing ability and is considered by many to be ...

"Babu". Later, he became a sports officer with the Indian Railways in Varanasi.

Personal life

Shahid had six brothers and three sisters (he was the youngest brother), and his father ran a small hotel in Ardali Bazar area of

. He married Parvin in 1990, and had twins (son Saif and daughter Hina) from the marriage.

Death

In June 2016, Shahid was admitted to Medanta hospital,

Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...

when he was suffering from a serious liver disease. He was airlifted from Varanasi to Gurgaon after ignoring a bout of jaundice. His condition continued to deteriorate with weakening liver and kidneys. He died on 20 July in Gurgaon. His funeral was held in hometown Varanasi the next day. His funeral was attended by officials, local politicians of the city and Olympians including Zafar Iqbal, Ashok Kumar, Sujit Kumar, RP Singh, Shaqil Ahmed and Sardar Singh.

Awards and recognition

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

(1980–81) *

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

(1986) * Best player

1986 Men's Hockey World Cup The 1986 Hockey World Cup was the sixth Hockey World Cup men's field hockey tournament. It was held in London, England. The competition was won by Australia, who defeated host nation England men's national field hockey team, England 2–1 in the ...

References

External links