Indian players wore black armbands on the first day of their three-day warm-up match against the County Select XI on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. BCCI revealed in a tweet that the gesture was done as a mark of respect for former Indian cricketer and national selector Yashpal Sharma, who had passed away aged 66 on July 13 following a cardiac arrest.
Yashpal Sharma was one of the pivots of India’s success in the 1983 World Cup which India won under the captainship of Kapil Dev. He had played 37 ODI and 42 Tests for the country between 1978 and 1985 and had witnessed first-hand how India became a cricket-loving nation.
In the 1983 World Cup, Yashpal played two defining innings. The first one being his man-of-the-match knock of 89 in the opening group match against the mighty West Indies who had won the inaugural two World Cups. This helped India post an impressive total of 262 which the Caribbean team couldn’t overhaul eventually getting all out for 228. This victory was a major shot in the arm for the Indian team who had previously won only one match in the last two editions of the tournament.
His second important contribution came against 1979 World Cup finalist, England, in the semi-final at Manchester. After India bowled out England for 213, Yashpal scored a valuable 46 stitching two important partnerships with Mohinder Amarnath and Sandeep Patil to take India in the final. Yashpal was also India’s national selector between 2003-2006 where he backed Sourav Ganguly during the Greg-Chappell fiasco.
India is playing County Select XI after Virat Kohli had made a case for warm-up matches following India’s loss at World Test Championship against New Zealand at Hampshire. Rohit Sharma is leading the team as captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane have been rested.
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and fast bowler Ishant Sharma too have been rested, giving an opportunity to Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav. As Rishabh Pant is still in isolation and Wriddhiman Saha became a close contact after throwdown specialist Dayanand Garani tested positive for COVID-19, KL Rahul will be keeping the wickets for the warm-up match.
The match is being played without any spectators and fans can watch it online on Durham’s YouTube channel.
