Sardara Singh

Sardara Singh, also written Sardar Singh, is an Indian field hockey player turned coach who was born on 15 July 1986 in the village of Sant Nagar in Sirsa District, Haryana. A centre half, he captained the Indian national team and became the youngest player to lead the side when he took the armband at the 2008 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. He played 314 matches over twelve years before retiring from international hockey in September 2018, and the Indian government honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2015. His club career took him from Chandigarh Dynamos and Hyderabad Sultans to the Belgian side KHC Leuven and the Dutch club HC Bloemendaal, and he was the highest paid marquee player at the first Hockey India League auction. He was named to the FIH All-Star team in 2010 and 2011 and later joined the Hockey India selection committee.