Punjab: Cricket is a very fickle game, where some players gain popularity after playing for a very little time, some remain unsung after playing for decades and that is the beauty of this wonderful game of cricket. Once upon a time, there was a player called Joginder Sharma. Not many people from this generation knows Joginder Sharma. Joginder Sharma is the man whose crucial last over in the final of the inaugural World Cup T20 in South Africa gave the Men in Blue a chance to stand on top of the world after 24 years. He played cricket for a very short period of time and then disappeared altogether.
Born and brought up in Rohtak, Joginder earned quite a reputation as an medium-paced bowler. After having a good stint for Haryana Under-16s, Under-19s, and Under-22s, he broke through to the Ranji Trophy side in 2002-03. The right-arm medium-fast bowler has played only four ODIs and four T20Is for India. In first class cricket, he has scored a total of 2,689 runs and has bagged 289 wickets altogether. He also played for Chennai Super Kings in IPL till 2011.
The star all-rounder from Haryana, nowadays is calling the shots on a different pitch. He wears a ‘khaki’ instead of Indian Cricket Team’s blue jersey and looks after the law and order of Haryana as he is currently serving as a deputy superintendent of police in Hisar district of Haryana. After the World T20, the Haryana government announced a cash reward of ₹21 lakh for his efforts and Joginder was given a job in the Haryana Police. Joginder’s life took a complete U-turn soon after he subsequently joined the police force later that year. Later he rose through the ranks and climbed up as a Deputy Superintendent of Police.
As the DSP of Haryana, now he has been serving as a policeman and doing his bit relentlessly as the nation fights the coronavirus pandemic. From winning the World Cup to working as a policeman, he has always been India’s super hero.
