Courageous, spunky, stocky… some of the words that come to mind when remembering Yashpal Sharma.
The hero of the 1983 World Cup triumph passed away on Tuesday, 13 July, owing to a cardiac arrest. He was by far one of the most gregarious of the lot that emerged on top of the world in the June of 1983.
Right through his playing days, he was one of the fittest cricketers and that showed in his agility on the field. His fielding exploits in the 1983 World Cup are not spoken of enough. He was also India's standby wicket-keeper for that World Cup and often kept when Syed Kirmani was injured or unavailable throughout his career.
A Vital Cog in India's World Cup Win
It was his spunky approach with the bat that got a lot of mention during and after the 1983 World Cup win.
In India, we often mourn the lack of television coverage for the hurricane knock of 175 by captain Kapil Dev in the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe. But an equally important effort, worth 89 by Yashpal against the West Indies, was never televised either. That knock played a huge part in India’s win over West Indies in the opening game of the World Cup.
In fact, this was West Indies’ first-ever loss in a World Cup match after having been unbeaten in the 1975 and 1979 editions. Yashpal’s approach against the fearsome West Indies fast bowlers played a huge part in India’s win. That win set the tone for India’s campaign in the rest of the World Cup.
Even in the win against Australia in the return clash at Chelmsford, Yashpal was the top-scorer with 40 in a relatively low-scoring encounter in a team total of 247. India managed to register a massive 118-run win and Yashpal was again the star of the show.
In the semi-final against England, India had been in a spot of bother after both openers Sunil Gavaskar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth fell in quick succession. Yashpal and Mohinder Amarnath had to do the repair job for a while. Just when it seemed like India was slowing down, Yashpal took off in a calculated assault. His six over square leg off Bob Willis is still spoken about in cricketing circles for the audacity of the effort. Yashpal just swivelled and swung like no one’s business and the ball went for a huge six. The floodgates opened and India managed to overhaul a modest target of 213. Yashpal was once again the top-scorer in India’s win.
Earlier, it was Yashpal’s fielding which proved to be the decisive factor as he ran out Allan Lamb.
The final was a complete letdown for batsmen on both sides – India and West Indies – but Yashpal will forever be the one who grabbed the stumps first as a souvenir in all the melee that broke out after the last wicket fell.
But in that phase, Yashpal was not just a successful limited-overs cricketer, but also a useful Test batsman.
Incidentally, both of Yashpal’s Test hundreds came in partnership with the great Gundappa Viswanath. The first hundred came at Delhi in the 1979-80 series against Australia when he added 71 for the fourth wicket with Vishy. For the second hundred, Yashpal added 316 runs with Vishy during the 1981-82 series at Chennai against England.
But sadly post the high of the 1983 World Cup triumph, Yashpal’s Test career nosedived. He lost his place soon after the World Cup, but his ODI career carried on for slightly longer. He last played for India during the 1984-85 series against England. In fact, he played alongside his nephew Chetan Sharma, who is currently India’s chairman of selectors. Yashpal’s last ODI for India was at Chandigarh, post which he never came close to an India recall. Young batsmen like Mohammed Azharuddin had burst onto the scene and also others like Ravi Shastri had risen in stature as all-rounders, making it difficult for Yashpal.
But he carried on gamely in domestic cricket and finally hung his boots in 1992.
Life Beyond the Indian Jersey
Post retirement, Yashpal featured in a number of veteran’s cricket matches. But his stint as umpire and match-referee was also noteworthy as he officiated a number of domestic games, women’s cricket matches, as well as IPL games.
He was a TV pundit of note on various news networks, but his most noteworthy stint was as a selector when he stole headlines for all the wrong reasons. He was the first selector during Greg Chappell’s controversial stint as India coach. The whole Sourav Ganguly saga played out in full view. Yashpal and fellow selector Gopal Sharma were accused of being pro-Ganguly as they backed his place in the Test squad.
Yashpal then returned in 2008 as a selector when his 1983 World Cup teammate Srikkanth was chairman of selectors. But this time it was less eventful and Yashpal finished his tenure without any headlines.
He made regular appearances at 1983 celebratory events, which had almost become an annual affair, whether it was the 25th anniversary event in 2008, the launch of the movie, or of course most recently the launch of the Opus book.
Who knew that the recent launch of the 1983 Opus book would turn out to be his last big public appearance! Sadly, he would not be around to witness either the full launch of the 1983 Opus or even the movie which has been delayed due to the pandemic.
But everyone can fondly remember Yashpal as the man of the 1983 World Cup whose spunk turned the corner for an unfancied India. Much of today’s riches in Indian cricket can be attributed to that bunch in 1983. Sadly today we have lost the first of the 14 from that lot.
RIP Sir.
(Chandresh Narayanan is a former cricket writer with The Times of India, The Indian Express, ex-Media Officer for ICC and the Delhi Daredevils. He is also the author of World Cup Heroes, Cricket Editorial consultant, professor and cricket TV commentator.)
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