Yashpal Sharma played 37 Tests and 42 ODIs for India between 1978 and 1985
Yashpal Sharma, a member of India's 1983 World Cup-winning team, died of a cardiac arrest in New Delhi. Sharma was 66 years old when he died.
Between 1978 and 1985, he was a middle-order batsman for India, appearing in 37 Tests and 42 One-Day Internationals. He scored two half-centuries in India's historic 1983 triumph, an 89 in the group stage against West Indies and a 61 in the semi-final against England.
Sharma scored 8933 runs in nearly two decades of first-class cricket, including 21 centuries and 46 half-centuries.
He remained active in coaching, commentary, and cricket administration after retiring from the game. He was a national selector for two terms, from 2004 to 2005 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the selection committee for India's World Cup-winning team in 2011. As an umpire and match referee, he also officiated in a number of domestic matches. He was recently a part of a group called He was a member of the Cricket Advisory Committee in Delhi.
His former teammates, some of whom he had met last month on the anniversary of the 1983 World Cup victory, were stunned by the news.
"Dilip Vengsarkar told PTI, "It's unbelievable." "He was the most physically fit of us all. When we first met, I inquired about his daily routine. He was a vegetarian and a teetotaller who ate soup for dinner and took his morning walks very seriously. I'm taken aback."
Vengsarkar added, "As a player, he was a true team player and a fighter." "The 1979 Test against Pakistan in Delhi is one of my favourite memories. We had a collaboration that allowed us to save the game. I've known him since I was in university. I still can't believe what I'm seeing."
Another member of that 1983 team, Kirti Azad, had met him last month. "He informed me that I had lost weight on the day we met. We had a fantastic time reuniting. I recall playing the mighty West Indies with those fast bowlers in the first game of the 1983 World Cup, and he set the tone, and we won that game "PTI quoted Azad as saying.
"In the semi-final, he was even better, hitting Bob Willis for a six. People nowadays say [Ravindra] Jadeja regularly hits the stumps, but Yashpal did as well. He was a lightning rod on the field, constantly hitting stumps "Azad remarked.
Balwinder Sandhu, another member of the 1983 World Cup squad, told PTI that Sharma deserved more recognition for the way he played the game. "The '83 team is like a family, and it's so shocking that one of our family members is no longer with us," Sandhu said. "It's possible that the media did not give him the credit that he deserved. He, on the other hand, always gave his all. He played to win the game and was brilliant in the field even while fielding."
Sharma was born in Ludhiana and competed in the domestic circuit for Punjab, Haryana, and Railways. He first made national headlines in 1977, when he scored a match-winning 173 in the Duleep Trophy final for North Zone against a South Zone attack that included BS Chandrasekhar, S Abid Ali, and Erapalli Prasanna.
After being selected for the Pakistan tour, he had to wait nearly two years for his Test debut, which he made against England at Lord's. Sharma went on to score two Test centuries, the first of which was an unbeaten century against Australia in Delhi. In the following Test, Sharma scored 85 not out off 117 balls in Kolkata to help India reach the 247-run target before play was stopped due to bad light.Sharma's second Test century (140) came against England in Chennai, during a 316-run stand with Gundappa Viswanath, who made 222.
Sharma left behind a wife, two daughters, and a son.
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