Dr Paes: Part of a rare breed of physician-athletes

Dr Vece Paes, better known to the present generation as the father of tennis legend Leander Paes, passed away in Kolkata last week after a prolonged illness. Dr Paes belonged to that generation whose involvement with sports was so complete that they could take part in many disciplines with success and finesse.

He was an accomplished hockey player who played in the midfield and was a member of the national team from 1966 to 1972. This was a time when India was one of the top sides in the world. He was part of the team that won the bronze medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics and finished in third place in the inaugural World Cup at Barcelona in 1971.

Dr Paes was also a capable cricketer, who scored runs by the plenty and picked up numerous wickets in club cricket, besides excelling in football and rugby. He married Jennifer Dutton, an ace basketball player, who led the country in the Delhi Asiad of 1982. Incidentally, Jennifer, like Dr Paes, excelled in hockey as well and could have represented the country in this sport had she not chosen to focus on basketball.

Jennifer could boast of a proud pedigree in her own right, as she was the great-granddaughter of Michael Madhusudhan Dutt, a prominent poet and playwright and one of the architects of the Bengal Renaissance of the 18th century. The couple had three children, and Leander was the youngest.

Though he took up the sport during his days as a schoolboy in Bengaluru, Dr Paes sharpened his skills as a hockey player after moving to Kolkata. He played for the renowned Mohun Bagan and was a member of the Bengal side before finding a place in the national team. As a midfielder, he could move up the field while the side was attacking and also fall back with equal felicity when forced to defend. He was a supremely fit athlete and could survive the rigours of playing full-time, running up and down the field, without any discomfort. 

Even after retiring from the playing arena, Dr Paes continued contributing to the world of sports. He specialised in the area of sports medicine, when it was still a fledgling speciality in the country. In this capacity, he was attached to organisations involved in the conduct of cricket, football and tennis matches in the domestic circuit. He was also the doctor attached to the national team for Davis Cup for many years. In his later years, he strove to create awareness about the harmful effects of drugs and supported the efforts of anti-doping agencies by spreading their message.

While the achievements of Dr Paes in the field of hockey are impressive, what makes his career remarkable is the fact that he completed his MBBS and went on to specialise in general surgery, even as he was moving up the rungs as a player. 

MBBS is one of the most difficult and demanding courses, spanning four and a half years, plus one year of compulsory internship. Students are not only required to attend classes and work in the wards, but they also face a rigorous system of examinations that starts from the day they join the course and continues at regular intervals till the very end. This schedule gives the student very little time to pursue even a hobby, let alone a full-fledged career in sports. Hence, it is admirable that Dr Paes managed to find the time to play hockey at the national level, even while studying in the prestigious NRS Medical College, an institution established in 1873.

No wonder then that in addition to Dr Paes, there are only two physicians who have represented India in their chosen sports -- powerlifter Dr Surendra Poonia and orthopaedic surgeon and hockey player Dr Otilia Mascarenhas. 

Dr Poonia is a product of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune, and served as a physician in the Army Medical Corps till he opted for retirement in 2012. He represented India in five World Powerlifting Championships and won 27 medals, including 10 gold.

Dr Mascarenhas, originally from Goa, also studied MBBS at AFMC during the 1960s. After completing MBBS, she did her postgraduate studies in orthopaedics, followed by super specialisation in sports medicine in later years. She was a member of the national women’s hockey team from 1965 and took part in the 1971 and 1974 World Cups. She was accorded the Arjuna Award in 1974. She currently lives in Germany.

A search for physicians in sports threw up the name of Dr Anya Saini, a paediatrician from Mysuru who, at 62, won two gold medals in the World Masters Games in Taipei in 2025 in swimming. Others in the list are cricketers Dr MV Sridhar and Dr Abdul Hai of Hyderabad, who played first-class cricket with distinction, and Dr Ravinder Chadha, a former captain of the Haryana Ranji Trophy side. Dr Chadha also served as a national selector, in addition to being the physiotherapist of the national squad for many years during the 1990s. However, none of these athletes came close to playing for the country.

Curiously, one name missing from the list thrown up by Google and ChatGPT is that of Dr Mohamed Basheer, who was a member of the national football team during the 1970s. Dr Basheer did his MBBS as well as postgraduate studies in paediatrics from the Government Medical College, Kozhikode. He came into prominence as a footballer while representing Calicut University and soon won a place in the Kerala side, first for the BC Roy Trophy and later for the Santosh Trophy.

He was a member of the Kerala squad that won the Santosh Trophy for the first time in 1973, though he could not take the field during the knockout stage due to an injury. He became a member of the national side in 1975 and was its captain in the Asian Youth Championship at Bangkok in 1976. He played for Kerala in the Santosh Trophy till 1979, after which he hung up his boots to start his career as a doctor. Incidentally, he was also good at badminton and represented Calicut University in this sport. 

After completing his studies, Dr Basheer moved to the United Arab Emirates, as many Keralites of his generation did during the 1970s and early 1980s. After settling down as a paediatrician, he did not actively take part in football administration, either in India or the UAE; nor has he ventured into coaching or commentary. It is a pity that the accomplishments of this unassuming achiever have not won the recognition he deserves.

While paying homage to Dr Paes, one should take a minute to salute the other heroes who pursued a career in medicine while following their passion for sports and reached great heights there as well. Their achievements stand as proof that it is possible to combine the journey of academic excellence with brilliance in sports, provided one has the fire and passion to follow both conscientiously.

Rest in peace, Dr Vece Paes. Your services to Indian sports will be remembered for a long time.