Major Sahab extraordinaire

When you first shake hands with Major Krishan Yadav, 31, the 5-foot 6-inch-tall, slim, bespectacled army officer at the National Defence Academy (NDA), you could easily mistake him for a professor. However, this is far from the truth.

In reality, the NDA’s equitation training officer is a hard-core soldier and sportsman. He is the only officer in the history of the NDA, who has won not one, but two gallantry awards: a Shaurya Chakra and a Sena Medal in his 11-year-old career.

If that were not all, he recently captained India’s equestrian team that won the first South Asian Beach Games in Sri Lanka on the strength of his four individual gold medals.

Yadav, an NDA alumnus, has led three significant operations in the Kashmir Valley, which resulted in 23 militant deaths with zero casualties on the Indian side.

In his latest military operation in May 2003, Yadav (then a Captain) led 10 battle-hardened men of the 5th battalion of the Bihar Regiment and killed 12 militants, who had infiltrated Indian territory in Kashmir. In a gunfight that lasted 72 hours, Yadav’s team suffered zero casualties. He was awarded the Shaurya Chakra for his courage and astute leadership.

In July 2002, Yadav (then a Lieutenant) led an ambush party of 10 men, who managed to kill five militants in a 1-hour gunfight in Kashmir. In October 2001, as a fresh-faced Lieutenant, Yadav led 10 soldiers, who managed to kill six militants, who were in the process of re-entering Pakistan. Yadav was awarded a Sena Medal for his efforts.

A second generation army officer — his father is a retired Army Supply Corps officer, and his elder brother is also an army officer — Yadav lets success sit lightly on his shoulders. He attributes his successes to a highly-motivated team of battle-hardened soldiers under his command, some of whom also won gallantry awards for these operations.

Stroking his new horse, Golden Glow, at the equitation centre on Thursday morning, Yadav said he took naturally to horse riding as an NDA cadet.

“Horse riding is a thrilling sport, as there is a risk attached to it. Horses are lovely animals and the trust that develops
between a rider and a horse is like a familial bond,” Yadav said.

As a horseman, Yadav has won a silver medal for show jumping at the October 2009, Federation Equestrian International World Challenge in New Delhi, following it up by jumping 185 cm with his horse in the March 2010 horse show in New Delhi, and capping it with four gold medals at the recent South Asian BeachGames in Sri Lanka. 

With his wife Preeti and son Rudransh (4) also learning to ride horses, Yadav is practising 5 hours every day for the 2014 Asian Games, where he aspires to represent India in the
‘eventing’ category, consisting of dressage, cross-country and show jumping.