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| Born | (1954-08-11)11 August 1954 Ludhiana,Punjab,India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 13 July 2021(2021-07-13) (aged 66) New Delhi,India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armmedium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 145) | 2 August 1979 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 3 November 1983 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 26) | 13 October 1978 v Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 27 January 1985 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 68 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1973/74–1986/87 | Punjab | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987/88–1989/90 | Haryana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991/92–1992/93 | Railways | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpiring information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WODIs umpired | 2 (1997) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Source:CricInfo,13 July 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yashpal Sharma (pronunciationⓘ; 11 August 1954 – 13 July 2021)[1] was anIndian international cricketer.[2] He was a middle order batsman who played during the 1970s and 80s.[3] He was a member of the Indian team that won the1983 Cricket World Cup.[4] He represented India in 37Tests and 42One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1978 and 1985. His nephewChetan Sharma was also a cricketer.[5] He was fondly nicknamed bySunil Gavaskar as theCrisis Man for India.[6]
Yashpal Sharma first drew attention when he scored 260 for Punjab schools against Jammu & Kashmir schools in 1972.[5] Within two years, he was in the state team, and a member of the North Zone team that won the Vizzy Trophy.[7] His first major innings infirst class cricket was a 173 in theDuleep Trophy for the North, against the South Zone which hadChandrasekhar,Erapalli Prasanna andVenkataraghavan.[7]
His knock of 99 in theIrani Trophy helped secure a place for him in the Indian team in a tour ofPakistan a few weeks later. He subsequently made his ODI debut during thetour of Pakistan on 13 October 1978, scoring 11 out of a total team score of 79 all out.[8] He went to England in 1979 as a part of the team that played in theWorld Cup. He did not play in any of the matches during the 1979 World Cup butappeared inthree Test series that followed. He scored 884 runs at an average of 58 in the tour matches.[3] He made his Test debut on 2 August 1979 against England atLord's.[9] His form in England assured him of a Test place in the next few games. After scoring a pair againstAustralia in theKanpur Test,[10] Sharma scored his first Test hundred in the very next match.[11] He missed out on another century as he scored an unbeaten 85 runs off 117 balls in the next Test atCalcutta, but with 3.4 overs still left before the end of the Test, he unsuccessfully appealed against light.[12]
He made his highest first class score againstVictoria in 1980–81, a 465-minute 201*.[13] In theAdelaide Test of that series, Sharma hit 47 in a 147-run partnership withSandeep Patil.[14] This was his only innings of some consequence in the tour and he was soon dropped from the team.[15] On his comeback, atMadras in 1981–82, he hit 140 against England. He batted through the full second day of the match withGundappa Viswanath and their third-wicket partnership contributed 316 runs.[16] AtPort of Spain next year, he was struck on the head byMalcolm Marshall and forced to retire. However, he came back to bat in the same innings and scored a fifty.[17]
After a few ordinary performances, Sharma was picked for the Indian team for the1983 World Cup. In the opening match of the tournament, he top scored with 89 as India causedWest Indies their first defeat in a World Cup match.[18][19] The West Indies had been favourites to win at odds of 66–1. Sharma very much won the day for them, and he recounted that he had a volley of marks on his chest from Malcolm Marshall's short-pitched bowling. A Bollywood film,83, was made about this World Cup triumph. The part of Marshall was played by Marshall's son, Mali.[20]
In the semifinal againstEngland he again top scored with 61 – a flick over square leg for six off a near yorker fromBob Willis being a memorable shot.[21][22] He was part of the Indian team which won its maiden World Cup tournament which eventually came during the 1983 campaign.[23] He was also the second leading run scorer for India during the 1983 World Cup with 240 runs in eight matches.[24]
Back home, he failed completely against the touringPakistanis. In the three-day match for North Zoneagainst the West Indies atAmritsar, he hitViv Richards for four consecutive sixes. But two more failures in the international matches against them ended his career.[15] He appeared in four one day matches against England the next year and scored more than ten in one of these matches. Sharma leftPunjab and joinedHaryana in 1987–88. He spent another two years with Railways.[25] At the age of 37, he was still good enough to score hundreds in consecutive matches in 1991–92. After he retired from the game, he became an umpire for a time, and was also a selector for the Indian national team.[15]
He served as India's national cricket selector from 2003 to 2006.[26] During the tumultuous period of Indian cricket between 2005 and 2007, he supported Indian cricket captainSourav Ganguly over the coachGreg Chappell and was also ousted from the selection committee in 2005.[27][28] After being removed from national selection committee prior to thehome series against Sri Lanka in 2005, he accused Chappell of questioning his integrity and interfering with selection of the team.[29] However, Chappell remarked that his spat with Ganguly was "blown out of proportion" and went on to say, "He [Yashpal] was frustrated that he lost a job which he obviously wanted to keep. I had no part in him losing his job, but he had to take it out on someone.".[30]
He again became selector for the national team in 2008 and served until 2011.[31] During his second tenure as selector, India won the2011 Cricket World Cup. He later served as the coach forUttar Pradesh Ranji Team.[32] In 2014, he was appointed as the head of Delhi's cricket advisory committee.[33]
He died on 13 July 2021 at age 66 due to a massive heart attack.[34][35]
In 2021, theBoard of Control for Cricket in India conducted a day/night benefit cricket match in honour of Yashpal Sharma.[36]
A Bollywood film titled83 released in 2021 about the event of India's first world cup win at Lords. The film featuresJatin Sarna as Sharma and is directed and produced byKabir Khan andAnurag Kashyap respectively.[37][38]
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