Honorary Captain Shankar Lakshman (7 July 1933 – 29 April 2006) was an Indian hockey player who played as a goalkeeper.

Shankar was born on 7 July 1933, in Mhow a small cantonment town in the Indore District of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, he belonged to the Shekhawat community of Rajasthan.

The team's captain Balbir Singh Sr. had suffered a fracture in his favoured right hand during the tournament, but the then 2-time Olympic gold medallist set an example by playing through the pain barrier and in the process, notched up his 3rd gold and India's only medal at the 1956 Olympics at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Captained by Anglo-Indian wizard Leslie Walter Claudius, and marching towards their 7th consecutive Gold medal, the team was brimming with a rare mixture of youth and experience.

Once again the finals was setup between India and Pakistan, it turned out to be a classic as Pakistan went ahead in the 11th minute through a goal by inside-left Naseer Bunda, right-in Hamidi had passed the ball to Nur Alam, the right-out, who in a flash and with a brief run hit the ball in the direction of the ever alert Bunda who dodged one to flick the ball on the left of the net,[10] the one which a goal keeper of Lakshman's calibre could not stop, India lost 1–0, and were thus dethroned as the Kings of Hockey, much to the backlash of the fans back home.

Managed by Inder Mohan Mahajan, and captained by Charanjit Singh, the Indian team went on to beat Belgium 2–0, in their opening game.

[12] After he captained India in the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok and again beat Pakistan for the gold medal, Lakshman was dropped from the 1968 Mexico Olympics squad, he subsequently announced retirement, in displeasure.