Chetan Sharma

Chetan Sharma (born 3 January 1966 in Ludhiana, Punjab) was a medium pace bowler who represented India at cricket.

Sharma was coached by Desh Prem Azad, a Dronacharya Award winner, who was also the mentor of Kapil Dev. Despite being only 5' 8" tall, the bearded Sharma was one of the fastest bowlers in India during the 1980s.

He made his first class debut for Haryana at the age of 16 and appeared in One Day Internationals a year later. Making his first appearance in Tests against Pakistan at Lahore in 1984, he bowled Mohsin Khan with his fifth ball - becoming the third Indian to take a wicket in his first over in Test cricket. He took fourteen wickets in the three Tests in Sri Lanka in 1985. Later that season in Australia, with India needing a win in the last match of the league to qualify for the final of the World Series Cup, he played a match-winning innings of 38*.

Sharma was an important member of the Indian team that defeated England 2-0 in 1986. He took sixteen wickets in the two Tests that he played. He took 10 wickets at Birmingham, including a career best 6 for 58 in the second innings. It remains the only ten wicket haul by an Indian in England. Though only twenty at this time, he picked up frequent injuries which restricted his career. When available, he was the first choice as the opening bowler with Kapil Dev for the next three years.

For his ability to get useful runs down the order that too at quick rate, Chetan was seen as a natural successor to Kapil Dev...
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