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Kunwar Digvijay Singh, popularly knows as K. D. Singh Babu, was born on February 2, 1923, at Bara Banki in Uttar Pradesh. Digvijay's peers in the Indian hockey team fondly called him "Babu" for the touch of aristocracy he lent in everything he did.
After getting into the national team, K. D. Singh toured British East Africa (Kenya), Uganda, and Tanzania in 1947 with the Indian hockey team captained by hockey maestro Dhyan Chand and established his reputation as a prolific goal-scorer.
K. D. Singh Babu was the vice-captain of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the 1948 London Olympics, the first Olympic hockey gold for independent India. He led the Indian team to another gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
In 1960, Kunwar Digvijay Singh was honoured with the Padma Shri award, thereby becoming the second Padma Shri hockey player after Balbir Singh Sr.
