Sachin Tendulkar's Bharat Ratna is a result of media hype - Dhyan Chand deserved it more than Sachin

After it was announced that Sachin Tendulkar will receive India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna and not legendary hockey player Dhyan Chand, questions are being raised everywhere. Even India’s athletics icon Milkha Singh said that he is glad that Sachin is been given Bharat Ratna but Dhyan Chand should have been awarded by it before.
Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player. He is widely considered to be the greatest hockey player of all time and popularly known as “The Wizard” for his superb ball control. Dhyan Chand played his final international match in 1948, having scored more than 400 goals during his international career. He scored over 1000 goals in his career, from 1926 to 1948. After seeing Dhyan Chand play at Adelaide in 1935, Sir Donald Bradman remarked, “He scores goals like runs in cricket!”. On one occasion, a lady from the audience asked Dhyan Chand to play with her walking stick instead. He scored goals even with them.
After seeing his prolific play at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Adolf Hitler offered Dhyan Chand, a Major in the British Indian Army, German citizenship and an offer to promote him to the rank of a Colonel. But Dhyan Chand rejected the offer. Residents of Vienna, Austria, honoured him by setting up a statue of him with four hands and four sticks, depicting his control and mastery over the ball. Major Dhyan Chand’s birthday is celebrated as National Sports Day in India.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is a former Indian cricketer widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of the modern generation and by many as the greatest cricketer of all time. He is the highest run scorer in both ODIs and Test Cricket. He even holds the record for maximum centuries, maximum Man Of The Match Awards, maximum half centuries and much more.
But when it comes to Bharat Ratna everyone feels that Sachin deserves one but Dhyan Chand doesn’t. Is it not because Dhyan Chand is not as popular as Sachin Tendulkar ? Or perhaps Hockey is not as popular as cricket in India ? Indian Cricket Team winning Cricket world cup under Sachin is considered to be one of the most proud moment for Indian sport but what about three Gold Medal in Olympics won by Indian Hockey Team under Dhyan Chand’s supervision.
So Sachin getting a Bharat Ratna is totally justifiable but Dhyan Chand deserved it before.