Kunwar Digvijay Singh, popularly known as K.D. Singh ‘Babu’, was born on February 2, 1922 in Barabanki. He excelled in studies as he did in sports. Hockey was his passion and only love.
‘Babu’ began his career in sports from the hockey tournament played at Dewa Mela. In 1947, he was selected in the Indian hockey team which toured Sri Lanka. In the next year he toured various countries under the captaincy of magician Dhyan Chand. The team during the tours scored 200 goals of which 70 were scored by K.D. Singh Babu.
In 1948, he was a member of the gold medal winning Indian Olympic team. Seeing his excellent performance in the Olympics he was made captain in 1949. In that year the team scored 236 goals, out of which 99 goals were scored by him.
Again in 1952 he led the Indian team in the Olympics and brought gold for India. In 1960 he was awarded with the title of Padma Shri. In 1972, he was made the coach of the Indian hockey team. He committed suicide on March 27, 1970.