India's hockey stalwarts feel that the late Balbir Singh Sr did not get the recognition he merited in his lifetime and the three-time Olympic gold-winning centre-forward should be bestowed with a posthumous national honour to make up for it.
Indian hockey witnessed an end of an era on Monday when Singh died at a hospital in Mohali at the age of 96 after battling multiple health issues for over two weeks.
Dhyan Chand was bestowed with many honours in his life, but a Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award in 1957, was all that Singh got in his lifetime.
"We somehow gave due respect to Dhyan Chand by naming the National Stadium in his name besides celebrating his birthday as National Sports Day or say naming Dhyan Chand award after him but Balbir Singh never got the recognition he deserved.
Three Olympic gold medals (1948, 1952, and 1956) as a player and captain, a world cup gold as manager and to-this-date the highest individual scorer in an Olympic final (1952, Helsinki) -- Singh is widely considered the best centre-forward of all time and to many experts and fans "the man who took forward the original wizard's legacy".
"He was only bestowed with a Padma Shri, but he should at least have been give Padma Vibhusan," he added.
"It is very sad that Balbir Singh ji is no more with us but as a nation we can still give him his due recognition. People like Dhyan Chand, Balbir Singh are born once and it is our duty not to neglect their achievements," Tirkey told PTI.
"People like Dhyan Chand and Balbir Singh are our national treasure. The government still can pull back and study their achievements and records and honour them accordingly," he added.
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