| Lal Shah Bokhari لال شاہ بخاری | |
| Full Name: | Syed Lal Shah Bokhari |
| Birth Date: | 13 January 1906[1] |
| Birth Place: | Lyallpur, Punjab, British India |
| Death Place: | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in |
| Position: | Left-half |
| Youthyears1: | 1921-1926 |
| Years1: | 1927-1933 |
| Nationalteam1: | India |
| Nationalyears1: | 1932 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0[2] |
| Updated: | 4 May 2024 |
Lal Shah Bokhari (Urdu: لال شاہ بخاری; born 13 January 1906 -- died 22 July 1959) was a field hockey player who represented India. He was the captain of the 15-member Indian field hockey team in the 1932 Summer Olympics.
In 1932, he was the captain[3] of the India men's national field hockey team, which won the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics. There were total three teams in the tournament and every team played two matches. He played both the matches from his team.
The Indian team was troubled by groupism (natives vs Anglo-Indians) that surfaced when Lal Shah Bokhari was named captain against the expectations of Broome Eric Pinniger. It appeared that Pinniger would not go with the team in protest. However, later he reconsiled and accompanied the team. The team arrived in Los Angeles to a rousing greeting.[4]
At the time of partition of India in 1947, he was serving as Hajj Officer to the Government of India and stationed at Delhi. He opted for Pakistan upon the country'sindependence from Britain and served as a diplomat for Pakistan -- his last posting being Pakistan's ambassador to Iraq.