14 Facts about Chetan Sharma - India's pocket size dynamo

Published - 03 Jan 2016, 13:34 IST | Updated - 03 Jan 2016, 13:34 IST

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At 5ft 3inches, Chetan Sharma would have never passed by as a fast bowler, he didn’t even have a physique of a fast bowler. However, this didn’t stop him from becoming one of the youngest cricketers to represent India. He was a young achiever and made his mark at the international stage in short time. During his early playing days, the young Sharma was seen as the most appropriate fast bowling all-rounder to succeed Kapil Dev. However, injuries and lack form hampered his career badly and his time at the top was short-lived. Here are some interesting facts about Chetan Sharma.

1. Born on:

Chetan Sharma was born on 3rd January 1966 in the city of Ludhiana, Punjab.

2. Famous coach:

Chetan was coached by Desh Prem Azad, a Dronacharya Award winner and a well-known coach in Chandigarh. Azad has coached the likes of Kapil Dev and Yograj Singh.

3. First class debut:

He made his first-class debut for Haryana at the age of 16.

4. One of the youngest to debut for India:

Chetan is one of the youngest to play for India. He made his ODI debut against West Indies in 1983 when he was 17. At the age of 18, he made his Test debut against Pakistan at Lahore in 1984.

5. A wicket in his debut over:

It didn’t take long for Chetan Sharma to announce his arrival as he bowled Mohsin Khan with the fifth ball of his international career – becoming the third Indian to take a wicket in his first over in Test cricket.

6. The uncle-nephew pair:

Chetan is the nephew of India batsman Yashpal Sharma. The uncle-nephew pair played only two ODIs together — both against England in 1984-85. In one of the games, Yashpal took a catch off his nephew’s bowling to dismiss Graeme Fowler.

7. Famous century:

He played the most noted innings of his career against England in the Nehru Cup in 1989. He was sent to at No.3 and India were required to chase 256. Sharma played the knock of his life and scored a 101* in 96 balls, completing his hundred with the match-winning run.

8. Infamous last ball six:

Sharma is also infamously remembered for bowling the last over in the final of the Austral-Asia cup in Sharjah in 1986. With Pakistan needing four runs off the last ball to win, he bowled a low full toss outside the leg stump, which was hit for six by Javed Miandad. That defeat exasperates many Indian fans to this day.

7. First hat-trick in a World Cup match:

He is the first man to have taken a hat-trick in World Cup and is also the first Indian to do so in ODIs. In the Reliance World Cup in 1987, Sharma took the first hat-trick in the history of the tournament when he clean bowled Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Ewen Chatfield of New Zealand.

8. Sharing the Man of the Match award:

Chetan Sharma had to share the award with teammate Sunil Gavaskar on the day when took the hat-trick as Gavaskar had hit a century during India’s run-chase.

10. Abrupt end to the career:

He played his last Test against West Indies in 1989 aged 23. His ODI career, too, was a similar story as he played a few matches in the Nehru Cup after his ton and had to then wait until 1992 for another game which was against South Africa. Later, he played three more ODIs in 1994 and didn’t get any opportunity after that. The reason behind the premature end to his career was the frequent injuries he picked.

11. World XIs:

In the 1980s, Chetan played for a few World XI sides in England. For the Rest of the World XI, he played alongside Dean Jones, Javed Miandad, Clive Lloyd, Lance Cairns, and Mark Greatbatch to name a few. For M Parkinson’s World XI, he played with Imran Khan, Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh and Martin Crowe.