Honorary Captain Shankar Lakshman (7 July 1933 – 29 April 2006) was an Indian hockey player. He was goalkeeper of the Indian team in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics, that won two gold medals and one silver medal. He was the first goalkeeper to become captain of an international hockey team and was awarded the Arjuna award and the Padma Shri by the Indian government. He was captain of the Indian team which won the gold in the 1966 Asian Games. After missing the selection for the 1968 Olympics, Lakshman quit hockey. He remained with the Army, retiring in 1979 as a captain of the Maratha Light Infantry. He died in 2006 after suffering gangrene in one leg in Mhow. Early life Shankar was born on 7 July 1933, in Mhow a small cantonment town in the Indore District of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, he belonged to the Shekhawat community of Rajasthan. Shankar began his sporting career as a footballer. He was the captain of the football team of Kodaria village in Mhow. He joined the Indian Army as a bandsman in the year 1947. He served in the 5th Battalion of Maratha Light Infantry. Career After joining the army, he made the switch to hockey from football. Starting his career in 1955 playing for Services. He earned praises for his goalkeeping, and was selected for the national team, on the back of an impressive run in the domestic circuit. 1956 Olympics Coached by Sardar Harbail Singh, and managed by Air Commander O.P. Mehra, India looked poised for another gold medal. The team's captain Balbir Singh Sr. had suffered a fracture in his favoured right hand during the tournament, but the then 2-time Olympic gold medallist set an example by playing through the pain barrier and in the process, notched up his 3rd gold and India's only medal at the 1956 Olympics at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The finals was setup between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, where Shankar kept goal, the only goal came from Randhir Singh Gentle, to beat Pakistan 1–0 and India claimed its 6th consecutive Gold in Field Hockey, while Lakshman was praised for his great saves, against Pakistan's forwards. 1960 Olympics Captained by Anglo-Indian wizard Leslie Walter Claudius, and marching towards their 7th consecutive Gold medal, the team was brimming with a rare mixture of youth and experience. Strong in the