Virat Kohli mourns passing away of 1948 Olympic gold winner in hockey Balbir Singh Sr.

Indian hockey legend Balbir Singh Senior (Balbir Singh Sr) passed away on the early morning of Monday, May 25 after being admitted to the hospital for bronchial pneumonia. Aged 96, he was widely regarded as one of the greatest hockey players and among the greatest centre-forwards of all time. Balbir Singh Sr was an integral member of India’s gold-medal winning side at the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics.

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Balbir Singh Sr death: Virat Kohli mourns for Indian hockey legend

Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli recently took to Twitter to express his sadness over the demise of Balbir Singh Sr. In his caption, Virat Kohli wrote that he is saddened to hear about the passing of the “legend”. The prolific run-scoring batsman also sent out his condolences to Balbir Singh Sr’s family during their time of sorrow.

Balbir Singh Sr death: Virat Kohli mourns for Balbir Singh Sr, check tweet

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Portrayal of Balbir Singh Sr in pop-culture: Gold with Akshay Kumar

A historical sports drama film titled Gold was released in 2018 which is loosely inspired by the events of India’s success at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar headlined Gold by playing the role of Tapan Das, a character who was inspired by India’s coach at the 1948 Olympics, NN Mukherjee. Apart from Akshay Kumar, several other Bollywood stars made quite an ensemble in the movie, which turned out to be a critical and commercial success.

Bollywood actor Sunny Kaushal played the role of Himmat Singh. In the movie, Himmat Singh was a character, which was largely based on Balbir Singh Sr.

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Death of Balbir Singh Kullar

Apart from the demise of Balbir Singh Sr, former India hockey player and Punjab police officer Balbir Singh Kullar also died earlier this year. Kullar died at his home in Sansarpur at the age of 77 due to a heart attack. Having made his international debut in 1963, he was a part of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and 1966 Asian Games. Balbir Singh Kullar was also a part of the bronze medal winning Indian side at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

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