Ritesh Misra, Surat, 11 September 2023
Chetan Chauhan, Yashpal Sharma, and Ashok Malhotra have done an act of heroism which is possibly not as well known as it should be. North Zone had defeated Central Zone at Pune in the Duleep Trophy semi-finals on October 30, 1984 and were all set to take a bus to Ahmedabad to play South Zone in the finals. However, on 31st, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi Ji was assassinated. The final was cancelled and the North Zone team was asked to return to Delhi by the Jhelum Express from Pune. It took four harrowing days to reach Delhi. Two players, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Rajinder Singh Ghai, just 21 and 24 respectively, needed protection from bloodthirsty mobs. So did Gursharan Singh and Rajinder Hans who were also in the team, and in the train.
Yograj Singh, another Sikh player, was also in the train but did not have a turban on and so theoretically he was “safe”. Yograj wanted to be aggressive and belligerent in his protection including using soda bottles and cricket bats to fight the mobs. However, a cool head was required and it was Chetan Chauhan who was the right man for the risky and hazardous life-threatening situation. Chetan Ji quickly gauged the situation and realised that violence and counter-attack would only see them ultimately overpowered. Chetan Ji, Yashpal Sharma and Ashok Malhotra, along with another player Arun Sharma, used to go out at stations and stop the mobs from coming inside the compartment. Navjot Singh Sidhu and the other Sikh players were asked to hide under the seats and the violent mobs were told that they had travelled separately. A team-mate, in good faith and for safety reasons, asked Navjot Sidhu to cut his hair but he refused, saying he was born a Sardar and would die like one if such a situation arises.
Off-spinner Sarkar Talwar says he remembers a heated argument of a mob of 40-50 with Chetan Ji and Yashpal Ji but after realising they were Indian cricketers, the mob left the compartment. The mob also went to the extent of saying that nothing would happen to the Hindus but the Sikhs would not be spared and the gutsy Chetan Ji, who at 37 was the eldest team member, said, “They are my brothers, nothing will happen to them”. Gursharan Singh and Rajinder Hans who were in a different compartment, were very scared as well and Chetan Ji used to go and reassure them that nothing would happen. After reaching Delhi, they got out at Okhla station, since it was close to Yashpal Sharma’s house and he took them home where they stayed for seven days till things were better and Navjot Singh Sidhu’s father sent help.
The above true instance shows character of all the protagonists involved. Kudos indeed to all these heroes.
Three years back, Chetan Chauhan passed away. In his cricket career, he is well known for being Sunil Gavaskar’s opening partner. In his 40 test matches, he had as many as sixteen 50s but somehow could not convert any of them into what would have been a well deserved hundred. His best series was versus a tough Australian team in Australia in 1980-81 in which he scored 249 runs in three tests and had a 97, and a 85. He also played a part in what could have been an epic win with India chasing 438 in England with an opening stand of 213. Overall he had 11 century stands with Gavaskar.
In the famous Sunil Gavaskar dismissal by Dennis Lillee when Sunny Bhai walked off the field and asked Chetan Chauhan to accompany him, Chetan ji knew that if he had not slowly walked back with Sunny Gavaskar, there was a risk of an altercation with his opening partner which would not have looked good. Chauhan’s cool mind enabled him to slowly walk with Sunny Bhai and he said later he was relieved to see the Manager, Wing Commander Shahid Durrani, rushing down. He asked Chetan not to cross the boundary rope, and Dilip Vengsarkar was there too to step into the plating arena. Otherwise, India would have forfeited the match and apart from losing the match, more importantly, it would have brought serious disrepute to the sport.
In conversation with noted writer Vijay Lokapally, Chetan Chauhan said, I am a Rajput, and Vijay Ji says he indeed was a warrior, both on and off the field. When he passed away, Kapil Dev and Madan Lal said they lost their elder brother. He was in fact Kapil Dev’s roommate and Kapil, calling him a perfect gentleman, says he learnt a lot from him, such as calmness, composure, and never getting angry and losing temper.
In First class cricket, Chetan Chauhan was a giant with more than 11000 runs, with 21 tons, and 59 fifties. In one season, he scored three hundreds with a broken jaw. All three were big hundreds versus quality opposition. He scored 158, 200, and 147 versus Haryana, Punjab, and Karnataka. For all the three matches he could not eat anything and had only soup and juice, sipping with a straw. Incredible indeed! He was a team-man always and played good cricket till his last match, which was the 1985 Ranji final versus Bombay, in which he scored 50s in both innings.
After his cricket career, and after a brief coaching stint, he joined politics, and was a multiple times MLA and MP. He was also a Minister in the Yogi Adityanath Government. He was a very fit person, and in his playing days was known to run for ten km and then bat the whole day. Sadly, it was COVID which took him away. He used to say in the hospital that he would easily defeat the disease, but sadly COVID played a role in final multi-organ failure and took him away from us.
Chetan Sir, statistics will do a dis-service to the service you have rendered to Indian and world cricket. You remained an unsung hero but we will always remember you very fondly. You are a true Icon of India.
