Only a few days are left for the Olympics 2024 to begin in Paris. It is not that cricket is not discussed in the Olympics. Many players not only played cricket but also other sports for their country – they also participated in the Olympics. Whenever players associated with both Olympics and cricket are mentioned – the name of MJ Gopalan from India is taken. There are many special things that are not known in this mention and the layer of dust of time is becoming thicker on those pages of history.

When he died in Chennai on 21 December 2003 at the age of 94 years and 198 days (there is controversy over this too as his birth year was wrongly written but that is a different story), it was written that a very famous chapter of Indian sports history had come to an end. Since we are talking about the Olympics, the biggest story associated with him is that he was very good at both cricket and hockey and he played both simultaneously. In 1936, a point came when he was asked to play the Olympics.

One had to choose between cricket and hockey due to clash of dates.

In 1936, the Indian team under the captaincy of Vijay went on a tour of England to play a series of 3 Tests and this tour lasted from 29 April to 15 September. Gopalan had made his Test debut before that – in January 1934 against England at Eden Gardens. He was also in the team for the 1936 England tour. The Olympics were held in Berlin that year and India was the number 1 team in hockey then and Gopalan had played for India in hockey as well. The Olympic Games were from 1 to 16 August and in this way Gopalan could take part in either the England Test tour or the Olympics. Gopalan then chose cricket.

There are many important details in this story that are not mentioned. Everyone who plays two sports, at some point in their career, faces the question of choosing between the two sports. Gopalan was a right-handed batsman and fast-medium bowler. He was a very talented centre-forward in field-hockey. There were many English players in that era.

Cricketers used to play domestic matches in India and everyone praised Gopalan. A special record- When Ranji Trophy started in 1934, Gopalan bowled the first ball in it. Record: 2916 runs with one 100 and 194 wickets in 78 first class matches. He wanted to play both the games- He used to practice in cricket nets in the morning and in hockey field in the evening.

He also went on tour with the Indian hockey team to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Australia and New Zealand and scored goals in 39 out of 48 matches of the tour.

Now the year 1936 has come. First he was selected in the cricket team for the England tour and almost at the same time he was also selected for the national camp for preparation for the Olympics (in many places it is also written as trials for team selection). In many places it is wrongly written that he was selected in the Olympic team and then he

He chose the cricket tour. The truth is that he chose the cricket tour and that is why he did not even go to that national camp. A famous Indian

Gopalan himself wrote this in one of his articles in the sports magazine 'Sport and Pastime'.

A story from that time. At that time, Pankaj Gupta was a very good and smart sports officer in India. His name is mentioned in many places in cricket but he was so passionate about taking India forward in sports that he was ready to help any sport. In those days, Maharaja Patiala not only helped cricket but also other sports. He was also bearing the expenses of the hockey team of Berlin Olympics and on his insistence, Pankaj Gupta was appointed many months ago.

He was removed from cricket duty and attached to the hockey team.

He wanted India's number 1 hockey team to go to the Olympics and win gold because in those days stories like giving a befitting reply to Hitler were very popular. When Pankaj Gupta came to know that Gopalan had chosen the cricket tour and was not even coming to the hockey camp, he himself went to Madras to convince Gopalan. Since Pankaj Gupta was also associated with cricket, he knew that Gopalan would not get many opportunities to play in the tour (certainly not in Tests) due to the presence of excellent bowlers like Mohammad Nisar and Amar Singh in the cricket team and still in the hope, Gopalan

He had chosen cricket. Pankaj Gupta said to Gopalan- 'Gopala, come with us to Berlin. You will surely get a gold medal there.' That was where Gopalan's Olympic connection ended.

What Pankaj Gupta had predicted happened – Gopalan played only a few tour matches and not a single Test.

The Indian hockey team proved its dominance in the Berlin Olympics and returned with its third consecutive gold. Look at Gopalan's misfortune – he was never selected in the Indian team after this tour and he was forced to leave the team.

He became one of the few cricketers whose Test career lasted just one Test. The Gopalan Trophy, an annual match played between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka for many years, is named after him.

On the other hand, in the biography 'Goal' of Dhyanchand, famous as the magician of hockey, it is written about him- 'I earlier thought that hockey is his second love and

Cricket came first, but it was not like that.' And one very interesting thing Dhyanchand wrote about Gopalan's religious beliefs – 'When the team returned from the New Zealand tour, Gopalan used to say that he had committed a sin by crossing the sea. So he took leave from the team in Madras and went to Rameswaram alone to take a dip in the holy water and the next day he joined the team back in Madras.'