11th August – Three Indian cricketers who celebrate their birthday today

On this day, three former Indian cricketers celebrate their birthday.

Yashpal Sharma

Sharma, a part of India’s historic 1983 World Cup-winning squad, broke into the national side in 1978 and played 37 Tests and 42 ODIs. His most memorable knock was his vital 89-run innings against West Indies in the opening match of the showpiece event. Sharma’s 89 made the difference as India caused West Indies their first defeat in a World Cup match. He delivered another stellar performance in the tournament scoring 61 against England in the semi-final.

Yashpal is Chetan Sharma’s uncle who also represented India. After retiring from the sport, Yashpal also donned the umpiring hat and also became a selector. In the 37 Tests which he played for India, the right-hander amassed 1606 runs including two tons. With the white ball, he scored 883 runs in 42 ODIs which included four half-centuries.

Anju Jain

The second name in the list is one of the stalwarts of India Women. Jain was the skipper of the side during India Women’s World Cup campaign in 2000, where they progressed to the semi-final before suffering a defeat against New Zealand.

Jain, a wicketkeeper, played four consecutive World Cups. She stands fourth with 81 dismissals in the list of all-time dismissals by wicket-keepers from all countries.

In 8 Tests and 65 ODIs for India Women, she scored 441 and 1729 runs respectively. Her only century (in both the formats) came against England in Kolkata in 1995 where she struck a 110-run knock. She even received the Arjuna Award in 2005 from the then President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

MV ‘Bobjee’ Narasimha Rao

Rao paved his way into the national side but his international journey was a short one. The Andhra batsman played only four Tests for India between 1978-1979.

His most memorable knock came at Eden Gardens against Australia, where he stitched a match-saving partnership with Yashpal Sharma to draw the Test. India required 247 to seal the victory and they ended up with 200/4 on the scoreboard.

He returned to competitive international cricket as an assistant coach of the Ireland Cricket team for the 2011 World Cup. In 2012, he etched his name into record books by becoming the first Indian cricketer to be conferred with the prestigious Member of British Empire (MBE) medallion.