Former Indian cricketer Yashpal Sharma who was a member of the 1983 World Cup-winning side, passed away on 13th July at the age of 66. The former batsman left his former champion teammates and entire nation in disbelief. Among the many fans of Sharma who are morning his death is Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh. He too took to social media to express offer condolences.
Ranveer shared a black and white picture of Sharma and captioned it with a broken heart emoji. Yashpal Sharma suffered a heart attack after returning from morning walk and collapsed at around 7.30 am.
The right-handed batsman was the backbone of India’s middle-order in the 1983 World Cup. He played 37 Test matches scoring 1606 runs and 42 ODIs scoring 883 runs. He had also played 160 first-class matches, representing Punjab, Haryana and Railways, and scored 8933 runs.
However he was best remembered for his performances in India’s first World Cup win, in 1983. He scored 240 runs at an average of 34.28 to return as the second highest-scorer for India behind skipper Kapil Dev in the tournament.
Sharma had top-scored with 89 (off 120 balls) to help India make 262/8 in their 34-run victory over West Indies in their first match of the 1983 World Cup. That win in Manchester is said to have given India the self-belief to go on and win the tournament. He later served as a match referee and umpire.
Ranveer Singh is currently waiting for the release of his film “83” that tells the story of India’s first cricket World Cup win in 1983. Directed by Kabir Khan the film stars Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev. Actor Jatin Sarna aka Bunty of popular web-series Sacred Games will essay the role of cricketer Yashpal Sharma in film.
