Hyderabad, June 20 -- In the years before India became independent, one of the nation's best all-around sports persons was a man named M.J. Gopalan. He was born in the Chingleput district in Tamil Nadu, but later his family settled in Chennai (then Madras). He excelled in both cricket and hockey, representing the country in both games.

In cricket, he was a good medium pace bowler with superb control over seam movement. In hockey, too, he was top class and could be ranked among India's best players. That was the era of Dhyan Chand and his legendary team. For any player to be included in that group meant that he was worthy to be classified as the best of the best.

However, despite all his merit and skills, Gopalan made a serious error of ...