Chetan Sharma

Some Lesser Known Facts About Chetan Sharma

• He played his debut first-class match at 17 for the Punjab team.

• His first five-wicket haul in test cricket was against Sri Lanka. He took 5 wickets against them in September 1985. He took 14 wickets in the same 3-match test series.

• In the 3-match test series against England which India won by 2-0, he took 16 wickets. He played in 2 matches and took 6 wickets in the first test at Lord’s, London with 5 wickets for 64 runs in the first innings and 1 wicket for 48 runs in the second innings. In the third test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, he took 10 wickets with 4 wickets for 130 runs in the first innings and 6 wickets for 58 runs in the second innings. His name was inscribed on the Wall of Fame in Lord’s, London after he took a 5-wicket haul.

  

• He took 17 wickets in the 1985-1986 Benson & Hedges World Series Cup held in Australia. He took 3 wickets each in one match against New Zealand and two matches against Australia in the group stage.
  

• In the final match against Pakistan of the 1985-1986 Austral-Asia Cup held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he was hit for a six on the last ball of the match by Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad. According to him, that shot depressed him and crushed his self-confidence. Chetan said that he tries to forget that match; however, everyone who meets him asks this question. He said,
  

  Whoever meets me for the first time, the first question that comes is about the last-ball six that Javed Miandad hit me for. It keeps happening. I have even started enjoying it now. Even when I am on the air doing commentary, I am reminded of the same as if it had happened recently. This keeps happening. I want to forget but people don’t let me do it as they keep asking. So, I am left with little choice. I tried my best to york Miandad and not give a loose delivery but it turned out to be a full toss. Javed was the best batsman and he hit it over the boundary. Badnaami main bhi naam hai (So what if you are infamous, you are still famous). God chose to make me famous like this, then I have no option. I don’t get irritated any more with the questions. ^[12]DNA India

• He created history when he took a hattrick in the 1987 World Cup against New Zealand when he bowled Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Evan Chatfield. He is the first Indian bowler to take a hattrick in ODIs and first bowler to take hattrick in a World Cup.

• Although he was mainly a bowler, he also played a few knocks with the bat. In a test match against Australia at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, he came as a night watchman and scored 54 runs. In an ODI match against England at Green Park, Kanpur in the 1989-1990 MRF World Series (Nehru) Cup on 25 October 1989, he scored 101 runs not out off 96 balls.
  

• His career was marred by various injuries, and he played very few matches for India.

• He moved to the Haryana team from Punjab and moved to the Bengal team in 1993, playing for them till his retirement in 1996.

• He helped the Haryana team win the 1990-91 Ranji Trophy by defeating Mumbai.

  

• He worked as a cricket commentator for many years after his retirement.

  

• On 8 February 2009, he joined Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Delhi and contested the Loksabha elections from the Faridabad seat; however, he could not win and secured 18% votes and came third. On 15 September 2009, he quit BSP and joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was made sports convener of the party.

  

• He was appointed as the chief selector of the BCCI in December 2019; however, after India failed to win the 2022 T20 World Cup, he was removed in November 2022. In January 2023, he was reappointed as the chief selector of BCCI.

• He also liked to play Handball and Table tennis apart from cricket.

• His coach Desh Prem Azad was also the mentor of Kapil Dev, Shardul Thakur, and Venkatesh Iyer.

  

• His sister Rakesh Sharma appeared as a contestant in an episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.

• He opened a coaching academy in Panchkula, Haryana in 2004, which was closed in 2009.

• He is the nephew of former Indian world cup winning cricketer Yashpal Sharma.