in 1948 Olympics that one of the leading British newspapers wrote: "Babu's performance was as near to perfection as was possible. Scintillating dribbling and adroit through passes characterized his play and he was the chief instigator in completely tying the dogged England defense. On many occasions he dribbled past whole defence with ease throughout the tournament. He was the brain behind the attacks. It is tempting to write that Babu is as elusive as Dhyan Chand." He was made captain of the Indian team in 1949, this year out of 236 goals scored, he had netted 99 goals, maximum by any member of the team. He was the captain of the Indian team, which won the gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games. His performance in 1952 olympics was described as 'poetic', where he was the mastermind and playmaker of the team. Former New Zealand captain Cyril Walter wrote: "I run out of adjectives in trying to describe his superlative dribbling and the timing and geometrical accuracy of his passing. Babu's dribbling is poetry in motion." As a coach Singh later served as the coach for Indian hockey team for the 1972 Munich Olympics. K.D. Singh Babu was a member of numerous organisations that include All India Council of Sports, Railway Board, Rifle Association of India and Wild Life Protection Committee of Uttar Pradesh. Death On 27 March 1978, he died of a gunshot wound from his own weapon, while cleaning it. It was also speculated that he might have shot himself. Singh was reportedly suffering from depression and was under psychiatric care during his final days. A fellow Olympian and friend of Singh, Ashwini Kumar stated that the former was a "sensitive man" and that he might have "become emotionally upset with the poor showing of the Indian team at the World Cup matches in Buenos Aires." In popular culture In the Indian sports-drama film Gold (2018), set in the 1948 Summer Olympics, Amit Sadh played the role of vice captain of the India men's national field hockey team - a character based on K.D. Singh. Honours and memorials Singh received the Helms Trophy in 1953 for being the best hockey player in the world (1952) and the best sportsman of Asia (1953). This was the first time an Indian was awarded the Helms Trophy. In 1958, he was awarded the prestigious Padmashri award by the Government of