Chetan Sharma Birthday Special: Here’s Look at Lesser-Known Facts & Best Performances of First Indian Pacer to Bag Hat-Trick

Chetan Sharma turns 54 years old on January 03, 2020. He is indeed one of the best Indian pace bowler of all time who bought a revolution in the fast bowling department. He made an impact right from his debut Test against Pakistan in 1984. The bowling all-rounder is the first bowler to take a hat-trick in World Cup tournament. On occasion of former Indian cricketer Chetan Sharma birthday, we will share lesser-known facts about him along with best performances. Jasprit Bumrah Should Play Test Matches in India Only When Absolutely Necessary, Says Chetan Sharma.

Chetan Sharma was born at Ludhiana in Punjab on Jan 3, 1966. He made his Test debut in the year 1984 against Pakistan while played last on May 3, 1989, against West Indies.  His ODI career lasted longer than Test as he appeared in the limited over cricket from 1983 to 1994. The former Indian all-rounder has bagged 87 wickets from 65 ODIs and 61 wickets from 23 Tests.

Lesser Known Facts of Chetan Sharma 

1. Chetan Sharma is the nephew of former Indian batsman Yashpal Sharma. The nephew-uncle pair played two ODIs against England together in 1984-85.  In one of the game, Yashpal took the catch of English player Graeme Fowler which was bowled by Chetan Sharma.

2. The former Indian Cricket team all-rounder is one of the youngest cricketers to make debut in International Cricket. He made his ODI debut at the age of 17 while he played his first Test at the age of 18.

3. Chetan Sharma was coached by Desh Prem Azad in Chandigarh who has also trained cricketers like Kapil Dev and Yograj Singh.

4. The left-arm pacer Chetan Sharma was also part of the Indian team which won the Benson and Hedges World Series in 1985. Interestingly, he only featured in the final game and bowled a brilliant spell of 1 for 17 in 7 overs, which included the important wicket of Rameez Raja.

5. Chetan Sharma scored an unbeaten 101 runs from 96 balls to help India win against England during the Nehru Cup, 1989. This was the only century scored by him in his International career.

Chetan Sharma's Best Performances 

1. Chetan Sharma's Hat Trick Against New Zealand, World Cup 1987

India won the match against New Zealand in Reliance World Cup 1987 to finish the group as a table topper. New Zealand got restricted to 222 runs where Sharma dismissed Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Ewen Chatfield on last three balls of the sixth over. It was indeed a special moment for the fast bowler as he became the first cricketer to pick up a hat-trick in World-Cup tournament and also the first Indian to achieve this feat. India won this game in 32.1 overs thanks to the century by Sunil Gavaskar.

Chetan Sharma's Hat Trick 

2. Chetan Sharma's Century Against England Nehru Cup, 1989 

Chetan Sharma scored the only century of his career which was indeed a spectacular match-winning knock against England at Green Park in Kanpur. While chasing the target of 256 runs, Sharma made an unbeaten 101 runs from 96 balls. He smashed then England skipper Graham Gooch for a boundary when one run was required of the last ball.

3. Chetan Sharma's Five Wicket Haul Against Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, 1985

The former famous Indian pacer Chetan Sharma took his first five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in the second Test of the series at Colombo in 1985. While bowling in the first innings, he bagged five wickets for 118 runs to keep Sri Lanka to 385 runs. He picked one more wicket in the second innings and ended the match with total 6 wickets to his name.

The former Indian all-rounder Sharma is also known for getting hit for a six by Javed Miandad in the final of Austral-Asia Cup in Sharjah, 1986 when Pakistan needed four runs to win from last delivery. Chetan Sharma after his retirement became a famous commentator and can still be seen on TV doing match analysis. He also contested for Lok Sabha election in the year 2009 from Faridabad on behalf of Bahujan Samaj Party. We wish the hat-trick hero Chetan Sharma a very Happy Birthday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 03, 2020 09:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).