Yashpal Sharma was a former Indian cricketer and one of the most explosive batsmen who batted for India in the middle order during the 1980s. He rose to prominence after scoring 89 against West Indies in the opening game of the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Yashpal Sharma was born on Wednesday, 11 April 1954 (age 66 at the time of death) in Ludhiana, Punjab. His zodiac sign is Leo. He made his professional cricket debut in 1972 for Punjab Schools by scoring 260 against Jammu and Kashmir Schools. Following his performances in the domestic circuit, he was selected for the Indian team in October 1978. It was famous actor Dilip Kumar who recommended his name to the National Indian Selection Board. He was selected in the 1979 Cricket World Cup but did not get a chance to play any game. But in the 1983 Cricket World Cup, he played 8 matches and scored 240 runs. He scored 61 runs against England in the semi-finals of that World Cup. After this his form deteriorated and he did not play many matches. But he continued to perform well in the domestic format, where he spent two years with Railways. After retiring from cricket, he served Indian cricket as an umpire, national team selector and later as the coach of the Uttar Pradesh Ranji team. He died due to cardiac arrest on 13 July 2021.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 8″
Hair Color: Natural Black
Eye colour: dark brown
Family
parents and siblings
His father’s name is Prem Chand Sharma while his mother’s name is Pratibha Sharma. He has an elder brother named Ghanshyam Sharma.
wife and children
He is married to Renu Sharma.
Yashpal Sharma with his wife
The couple has a son named Chirag Sharma and two daughters named Pooja Sharma and Preeti Sharma.
Yashpal Sharma’s daughter
His nephew’s name is Chetan Sharma and he is a former Indian cricketer.
Chetan Sharma
signature/autograph
Yashpal Sharma’s signature
livelihood
International debut
Examination
Against England at Lord’s Cricket Ground on 2 August 1979.
ODI
Against Pakistan at Connelly Park (now Jinnah Stadium), Sialkot on 13 October 1978.
record
He is the second player to be out for zero in his ODI career.
statistics
batting statistics
Test match- 37 innings- 59 not out- 11 runs- 1606 Highest score- 140 Average- 33.45100 seconds- 250 seconds- 90 seconds- 4
One Day International Match – 42 Innings – 40 Not Out – 9 Runs – 883 Highest Score – 89 Average – 28.48 Balls Faced – 1401 Strike Rate – 63.02100 Seconds – 050 Seconds – 40 Seconds – 0
bowling statistics
Testmatch- 37 innings- 3 overs- 5.0 Maidens- 2 runs- 17 wickets- 1BBI- 1/6BBM- 1/6 Average- 17.00Economy- 3.40Strike rate- 30.05w- 010w- 0
One Day International Match- 42 Innings- 8 Overs- 33.3 Maiden- 0 Run- 199 Wickets- 1 BBI- 1/27 Average- 199.0 Economy- 5.94 Strike Rate- 201.04w- 05w- 0
He first scored 260 for Punjab Schools against Jammu and Kashmir Schools in 1972. Within a period of two years, he was in the state team for Punjab. He was also a member of the North Zone team that won the Vizzy Trophy. His first major innings in first-class cricket was for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy against South Zone, which included star players like Chandrasekhar, Erapalli Prasanna and Venkataraghavan.
Yashpal Sharma
In the 1974–75 season, Yashpal Sharma was playing Ranji matches for Punjab against Uttar Pradesh. He scored centuries in both the innings. Then suddenly they came to know that some big personality had come to watch this match. Yashpal thought it must be some top politician. But to their surprise it was the great actor Dilip Kumar. After the match, he called Yashpal for a talk and congratulated him for the century. he adds,
“I would recommend your name to anyone.”
The next day Yashpal’s photo with Dilip Kumar surfaced. He learned that Dilip had recommended his name to Raj Singh Dungarpur, a prominent cricket administrator. He told Dungarpur that Yashpal deserves to play for India. This was the time when Yashpal’s life changed completely after this.
Newspaper clip of Yashpal Sharma with Dilip Kumar in 1974-75
He made his international debut for India in the 1978 Irani Trophy tour of Pakistan after scoring 99 runs. He was also part of the Indian team for the 1979 Cricket World Cup. However, he did not play in any World Cup games. After this he scored 884 runs in tour matches at an average of 58. Making his debut in a Test match at Lord’s in 1979, his excellent form there secured his place for the remaining games of that tour. His first Test century came against Australia in Delhi. He missed his century after scoring 85 not out off 117 balls at Calcutta (now Kolkata), but before 3.4 overs were left in the day’s play, he appealed against the lights and the match was abandoned.
Yashpal Sharma in action during a match against England in 1979
He made his highest first-class score of 201 not out against Victoria in 1980–81. In the Adelaide Test of that series, he scored 47 runs in a partnership of 147 runs with Sandeep Patil. After this he was dropped from the team. He then scored 140 against England in the return match at Madras in 1981–82. This innings also included a partnership of 316 runs with Gundappa Vishwanath for the third wicket. The following year, in a match in Port of Spain, he was hit on the head by a ball from Malcolm Marshall and was forced to retire. Making a comeback in the same innings, he scored a half-century. He was then selected in the Indian team for the 1983 Cricket World Cup. In the first match itself, he scored 89 runs and helped India defeat world champions West Indies for the first time in the World Cup. Unfortunately this match was not televised for some reason. Malcolm Marshall had hit him several times on the chest during that innings. After this he played an inning of 61 runs against England in the semi-finals of that World Cup. One of the memorable shots of that innings was his flicking a yorker ball over square leg for a six. Talking about that shot he said,
“I never practiced it. It just happened on impulse. I covered the stumps to get better access to the ball but Willis directed the ball towards my stumps and I reacted to it. I never played that shot again.”
His World Cup campaign ended with him becoming the second-highest run-scorer for India in that tournament.
Yashpal Sharma during a Test match against England at the Oval in August 1979
1983 World Cup winning Indian team meeting Rajiv Gandhi and Lata Mangeshkar
After this World Cup, there was a tour of Pakistan where Yashpal could not score big. However, he hit four consecutive sixes off Vivian Richards while playing for North Zone against West Indies in Amritsar during a practice game. After this, he played four ODI matches against England in 1984–85 and could not score even 10 runs in any of these matches. In 1987-88 he left Punjab and joined Haryana. He also spent two years in the Railways. At the age of 37, he scored centuries in consecutive matches in 1991–92. After retiring from all forms of cricket, he became an umpire for some time and then became a selector for the Indian national team.
Yashpal Sharma as Umpire
He served as an Indian national selector from 2003 to 2006. He then became a national selector from 2008 to 2011. When he was the national team selector, India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Then later served as the coach of Uttar Pradesh Ranji team. In 2014 he became the head of Delhi’s Cricket Advisory Committee.
Favorite
Death
Yashpal Sharma died on 13 July 2021 at 7:40 am in Noida, Uttar Pradesh due to cardiac arrest.
Facts/General Knowledge
- Since Yashpal was an explosive hitter all his shots were named almond shots as he used to keep some almonds in his pocket to get energy while batting.
- He was one of the most health conscious Indian cricketers. He was a complete vegetarian and would only have soup in the evening and then go out for a long walk.
- There is a Bollywood film named ’83’ which is dedicated to India’s 1983 Cricket World Cup win. This film was released on 24 December 2021 and Jatin Sarna is playing the character of Yashpal Sharma.
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Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn