Former Indian cricketer and 1983 World Cup winner Yashpal Sharma has died of heart attack on 13 July 2021,Tuesday morning. He was 66 and is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. The former Punjab cricketer was regarded as a gifted middle-order batsman. . He was a vegetarian, teetotaller, used to have soup for his dinner and very particular about his morning walks. “As a player, he was a proper team man and a fighter.In Ranji Trophy, where he represented three teams — Punjab, Haryana and Railways –, Yashpal played 160 matches amassing 8,933 runs which included 21 centuries with a highest score of 201 not out.
He was an umpire too and stood in a couple of women’s ODIs. The multi-faceted former player also served as coach of the Uttar Pradesh Ranji team.
Early career
Yashpal first hogged limelight when he scored 260 for Punjab schools against Jammu & Kashmir schools in 1972. Within two years, he was in the state team and a member of the North Zone team that won the Vizzy Trophy. His first major innings in first-class cricket was a 173 in the Duleep Trophy for North, against the South Zone.
International career
In a career spanning from 1979 to 1983, Yashpal played 37 Tests for India and scored 1606 runs with two centuries and nine fifties. Yashpal made his debut in 1979 against England and added substance to the Indian middle order.
Retirement
Back home, he failed completely against the touring Pakistanis. In the three-day match for North Zone against the West Indians at Amritsar, he hit Viv Richards for four consecutive sixes. But two more failures in the international matches against them ended his career.He appeared in four one day matches against England the next year and scored more than ten in one of these matches. Sharma left Punjab and joined Haryana in 1987–88. He spent another two years with Railways.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 has also been a selector for the Indian national team.