One of the best hockey players of the 60s, Jamanlal Sharma died on last 26th Aug. 2007 at Luknow. He was outstanding fullback in one of the golden phase of Indian hockey.
J.L.Sharma was born on 6th Feb. 1936 in a small town Bannu, now part of Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. The talent came out early in his childhood.
He first came into the limelight, getting chance to represent as a left-half in the then formidable United Provinces team in the 1957 Bombay National Championship. After this, his game has grown up and was promptly selected for the nation for 1959 East Africa tour. In the same year he was also included for the Europe tour. Fortunately the hockey wizard Dhyan Chand was the coach, obviously inspired of the legend’s presence. J.L. Sharma showed his fighting spirit in the tour and even posted two precious goals.
J.L.Sharma made it to his first – and of last – of his Olympics in the 1960 Rome Olympics. Unfortunately Indian team lost the final and had to be contended with silver. Silver was a great shock to the nation, as it was for the first occasion since 1928, India did not win the Olympic gold. In this final, it was up to Jhamanla to tackle the movements of Pakistan’s right-in Nasir Bunda. However, he could not and the guile Nasir went on to shoot the winning goal for his team.
Two years later, Jhamanlal played in the Jakarta Asian Games, but he could not perform his best, as again India would lose the final match to Pakistan. He had to retire after that from the international arenas.
Jhaman Lal turned his energy on hockey promotion after his hockey retirement. He continued to contribute his talent to the Indian Hockey in various forms. He served as a Coach, Manager and Selector at national level several times. As a Manager, he accompanied the Indian team for the Bombay World Cup (1981-82), Asia Cup (Karachi, 1982), Champions Trophy (Perth, 1985), Azlan Shah Cup, (1985, 1988), Indo-Pak Test Series (1985, 1988), London World Cup (1986), Seoul Olympics (1988), BMW Trophy, Amstelveen (1990), Beijing Asiad (1990), Indira Gandhi Gold Cup, New Delhi (1991).
Jhaman Lal was honoured by his State U.P. Government which nominated him as the Director of Sports. He was also put in-charge Lucknow Sports Hostel, Hockey Wing, which he made renowned with his sheer enthusiasm and commitment.
In his guidance the hostel produced some best talents for the Indian hockey such as Md. Shahid, Vivek Singh, Sujeet Kumar, Subodh Khandkar, Jagbir Singh, Abdul Aziz etc. To produce such a crop of players has been his creditable achievement. He was fittingly awarded Laxman Award by the U.P. Government in 1974. He was also the recipient of Padma Shree in 1989.
I met him during the Senior Women’s National Hockey Championship which was held at his hometown, Lucknow, four years ago. I was amazed at his profound technical knowledge of Hockey. He was a simple and polite human being. In his last days he was residing with his journalist son Mr.Deepak Sharma in Gomti Nagar at Lucknow. On 25th August 2007 he fell down in bathroom and had severe head injury. He could not recover from that trauma and passed away due to brain hemorrhage, on the next day. His contribution to Indian Hockey will be unforgettable and the Hockey lovers will always remember him. I join the nation in paying my humble homage to this great soul of Indian hockey.