Yashpal Sharma, hero of India’s maiden World Cup win, dead at 66

Sharma was the second highest run-getter for India at the 1983 cricket tournament after captain Kapil Dev.

Yashpal Sharma, part of the India team that won the 1983 World Cup, has died of a heart attack at the age of 66, cricket authorities said. Sharma played a key part in India’s first World Cup win that triggered cricket’s rise in South Asia. He played 37 Tests and 42 one-day internationals as a middle-order batsman between 1979 and 1985. Sharma was the second highest run-getter for India at the 1983 tournament after captain Kapil Dev. He scored 89 against the West Indies in a first-round game and 61 in the semi-final against England.