When Yashpal Sharma spoke about Dilip Kumar
Famous cricketer and expert Yashpal Sharma, who was a member of the Cricket World Cup winning team India in 1983, died of a heart attack this morning. Yashpal Sharma was a big fan of Dilip Kumar. Apart from films, he was very close to 'Yusuf Bhai' as he used to call him. In an exclusive interview with India TV, Yashpal had revealed that he owed his career to the legendary actor. He said that it was because of him that his International cricket career started.
In this interview, Yashpal Sharma said that while people call the actor Dilip Kumar, for him he was Yusuf Bhai. He said that it was only Dilip Kumar who made his life in cricket. He said, "He came to see the Ranji Trophy match in Punjab. Later, he met me and said that he will recommend my name to someone. And then after a few weeks, I was playing for India." He added that he is emotionally attached to him.
Yashpal Sharma had also said that he used to feel the pain every time Dilip Kumar used to get admitted to the hospital. It is heartbreaking that days after Dilip Kumar's death, Yashpal Sharma passed away. Check out the video here-
Meanwhile, the right-handed batsman, who was the backbone of India's middle-order in the 1983 World Cup, played 37 Test matches, scoring 1606 runs, and 42 ODIs scoring 883 runs. He also played 160 first-class matches, representing Punjab, Haryana and Railways, and scored 8933 runs.
But he was best remembered internationally for his performances in India's first World Cup win, in 1983. He aggregated 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 gave India the self-belief to go on and win the tournament.
