On June 25, except Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri who are in England, and Krishnamachari Srikkanth (who was present virtually), all other members of the 1983 World Cup-winning team gathered in Delhi to celebrate the 38th anniversary of one of India's greatest sporting feats. Less than three weeks later, the entire contingent has plunged into deep grief with Yashpal Sharma, one of the vital cogs of that victorious campaign, passing away following a massive cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning.
Yashpal was 66 and is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.
The members of the 1983 WC stay in touch with each other through a WhatsApp group, waking up daily to pleasantries from each other. Tuesday morning was anything but pleasant as the news of Yashpal's demise was conveyed in the same group.
"I don't know what to say at this moment," said Syed Kirmani, another member of the Class of ‘83. "I am at a loss for words. I spoke to him just a couple of days ago and he was supposed to appear on my Youtube show. This is shocking, we are all (the ‘83 team) in shock. My prayers are with his family."
Another hero from the 1983 campaign, Roger Binny, too couldn't fathom the loss of his former team-mate. "He was just one year older than me and one of the fittest guys - a vegetarian who was very particular about what he ate. It just shows how uncertain life is," Binny remarked.
A middle-order batsman known more for his doughtiness than deftness, Yashpal was more or less a regular fixture in the Test middle-order between 1979 and 83, while his one-day career extended two more years. The right-hander featured in 37 Tests, scoring 1,606 runs at an average of 33.45 with two hundreds and nine half-centuries. In 42 ODIs, he gathered 883 runs at 28.48, including four half-centuries.
Whenever you think of the ‘83 World Cup, certain moments and individuals flash through the mind -- be it Kapil Dev's once-in-a-generation innings against Zimbabwe, Mohinder Amarnath's heroics in the semifinal and the final, or Binny's tournament-high tally of 18 wickets. Despite being as vital, Yashpal's contributions, however, don't receive as much appreciation, a regret he took to the grave.
"I don't know why, but I don't think my contributions (in the World Cup) got their due," he would confide to his close confidant.
He was perhaps an unsung hero amid an assembly of stars.
Binny agreed, going to the extent of saying Yashpal was the one who set the tone for India's campaign with his 89 in the group opener against West Indies. "They were the mighty West Indies and the defending champions, and his match-winning innings gave us a lot of confidence. Though we didn't discuss it a lot, we sensed something special was on after that.
"We were 141 for five when Kapil was dismissed. Then Yashpal and I shared a good partnership (73 runs for the sixth wicket) that took us past 200, helping us set up a winning total," Binny pointed out.
Kirmani chipped in, "He played one of the most important knocks in the semifinal against England. Not to forget the run-out he effected to remove Allan Lamb, who was looking dangerous. He was a gutsy batsman, a brilliant fielder and above all, a great team-man."
His two Test hundreds, incidentally, came in the company of two Karnataka batsmen -- GR Viswanath and Kirmani.
"I must credit my highest Test score (222 against England in Chennai in 1982) to him," began Viswanath. "We were 150 for two when Dilip (Vengsarkar) retired hurt. Yashpal joined me and pushed me to bat the whole day. If he sensed I was being too carefree or throwing it away, he would come and tell me, 'Vishy bhai, we have to get a big one, let's keep going.' He was constantly goading me to stay there and we ended up sharing a big partnership."
The duo put on 216 for the third wicket and ended with their respective highest individual scores. Yashpal's second and last Test hundred ended at 140.
His maiden century (100 n.o. against Australia) came in association with Kirmani in Delhi. Yashpal was some distance away from a three-figure score when India lost their sixth wicket at 415. But Kirmani hung around for 46 minutes for 35 as Yashpal cut loose in anticipation of a declaration, which came immediately after he brought up his hundred.
Yashpal also served senior national selector from 2003-2006 and he was again appointed in 2008.