Former India cricketer Yashpal Sharma was born on 11 August 1954. He was a middle-order batter who played in ODIs and Tests in the 1970s and 80s. Having made his international debut in 1978, Yashpal has represented the Men in Blue in 37 Tests and 42 ODIs, scoring 1606 and 883 runs, respectively.
The Ludhiana-born cricketer grabbed the attention of the cricket fraternity when he scored 260 for Punjab schools against Jammu & Kashmir schools in 1972. An impressive start to his career earned him a place in the state team. He was also a member of the North Zone team that won the Vizzy Trophy.
A 173-run knock in the Duleep Trophy against the South Zone was his first breakthrough innings in first-class cricket. However, it was his gutsy 99 in the Irani Trophy that helped him secure a spot in the Indian tour in a tour of Pakistan. He also made his debut in the longer format the following year on 2 August 1979 against England at Lord’s.
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Gavaskar’s ‘Crisis Man for India’
Yashpal was part of the 1983 World Cup-winning team. His 61 off 115 was instrumental in India’s victory over England in the first semi-final. Chasing 214, the visitors had lost the early wickets of Sunil Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth. However, Yashpal and Mohinder Amarnath brought India back into the game. Notably, he was nicknamed as the ‘Crisis Man for India’ by legendary Gavaskar.
Meanwhile, the right-hander’s career suffered a decline after the historic World Cup win. He was dropped from the Test team after two disappointing performances against Pakistan and the West Indies in 1983/84. He failed to make a comeback to red-ball cricket but continued to play in the 50-over format.
After his retirement, Yashpal took over as India’s national cricket selector in 2003. He was dropped from the selection committee in 2005 and was reappointed in 2008 and served till 2011. It is noteworthy that India won their second Cricket World Cup in 2011 during his second term as a selector.