Finance
By: Shree1news, 07 JUL 2021
India’s one of finest hockey players, a double Olympic gold medalist Keshav Datt passed away in the early hours on Wednesday. His attendant Dolly Bairagi confirmed the news of his death. Datt, 95, is survived by his two sons and a daughter.
The reason for his death, as talked about by his attendant, was age-related ailments. The nonagenarian former hockey star wasn’t keeping well for the last few days. His body will be kept at Peace Heaven for a few days.
Born in Lahore in 1925, Datt did his education and sports at the Government College, in the western Punjab city. He was mentored by the legendary Dhyanchand and KD Singh Babu. Datt came into the limelight whereas representing Punjab in the National Championship in undivided India. After Partition he came to Bombay and then moved to Calcutta in 1950. He represented Bombay and Bengal in the National Championships as well.
As a hockey player, Calcutta Port Commissioners was Datt’s first port of call. Famous Bengali movie actor Jahar Ganguly, then hockey secretary of Mohun Bagan, took him to the green-and-maroons. At Mohun Bagan, Datt received the Calcutta League six times and the Beighton Cup thrice. He was widely regarded as one of the finest half-backs in Indian hockey.
Mohun Bagan conferred him with the Mohun Bagan Ratna award in 2019.
