Balwinder Sandhu is a former Indian cricketer who helped India lift the 1983 World Cup trophy. He is primarily a medium-pace bowler who can bat lower down the order. Initially, he was an inswing bowler but later added offswing while playing in the Kanga Cricket League.
Wiki/Biography
Balwinder Sandhu was born on Friday, August 3, 1956, in Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra (age 65 years 2021). His zodiac sign is Leo. He holds a master’s degree in literature and economics. He completed his schooling from Guru Nanak Technical High School. He subsequently studied at Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Khalsa College and Jhunjhunwala College in Mumbai and RN Jhunjhunwal College in Ghatkoper. Balwinder started playing cricket near his home during his childhood. There is no big open space near his house. But when he shifted to Nehru Nagar in Korla, he saw a bigger ground and decided to play there. However, the ground was dirty, so he decided to clean it up with his friends. After cleaning up, they set up a field in the center and started playing there. This started Ballwind’s interest in cricket. At the age of 16, he participated in a summer training camp organized by the Bombay Cricket Association. He further revealed,
“The only reason I went there was because all my friends had gone and I didn’t know what to do. I was pretty good at netball cricket and used to bowl very well against spinners and with the bat. But I was very good at bat and ball. The ball wasn’t interesting and I was a bit scared to bat. Baba Sidhaye was the coach at the time and he was very impressed with my bowling, but I didn’t take it seriously for two or three years.”
After entering Jhunjhunwala Academy, he started playing cricket seriously and his grades improved greatly, which instilled more passion in him. At this stage, he took 25 wickets in three games. He learned the art of swing bowling during his time in the Kanga Cricket League. It happened that their team’s fast bowlers hadn’t arrived yet, so Balwinder decided to bowl the pace. Although he picked up wickets, he struggled on the dry pitch. He began his cricketing career in late 1980 when former first-class cricketer Yeshwant ‘Baba’ Sidhaye spotted him during a summer training camp. Soon he came to the attention of the famous cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar and spent a few years with him at the ‘Shivaji Park’ maidan in Mumbai.
Photos of Balwinder Sandhu playing ball
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 9″
Weight (approximately): 65kg
Hair color: gray
Eye color: dark brown
family
Parents and siblings
His father’s name was Harnan Singh Naz, a famous poet.
Harnam Singh Naaz
His mother’s name is Gurcharan Kaur.
wife and children
He is married to Ravinder Kaur.
Balwinder Sandhu Marriage
The couple has two daughters named Timrar Kaur (Nazo) and Jankeesh Kaur.
Balwinder Sandhu and his family
address
Balwinder Sandhu lives in Neelkanth Garden in Govandi near Kimpur, Mumbai.
Signature/Autograph
Balwinder Sandhu’s autograph
Profession
international debut
test
January 14, 1983, against Pakistan at Niaz Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad, Pakistan
Foreign Direct Investment
December 3, 1982 against Pakistan at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala, Pakistan
Record
Highest score in Test cricket debut at No. 9
Statistical data
batting statistics
Test match – 8 innings – 11 not out – 4 runs – 214 Highest score – 71 Average – 30.57100s – 050s – 20s – 1
One-Day Internationals – 22 Innings – 7 Not Out – 3 Runs – 51 Highest Score – 16 Average – 12.75 Ball – 97 Strike Rate – 52.57100s – 050s – 00s – 2
bowling statistics
Test Matches – 8 innings – 10 overs – 170.0 Maidens – 32 runs conceded – 557 wickets – 10BBI – 3/87BBM – 3/87 Average – 55.87 Economy – 3.27 Strike rate – 102.05W – 010W – 0
One Day Internationals – 22 Innings – 21 Overs – 185.0 Maidens – 15 Runs Conceded – 763 Wickets – 16BBI – 3/27 Average – 47.68 Economy – 4.12 Strike Rate – 69.34W- 05W- 0
He made his debut for Mumbai in the 1980-81 season when their regular fast bowler Karsan Ghavri was out while playing for the Indian national team. Balwinder was dropped in the first two games but soon made his debut against Gujarat and took nine wickets. He has since been ruled out of the final against Delhi. At that time, Ravi Kulkarni ruled himself out at the last minute which allowed him to go to the side and take nine wickets. He was the opening bowler who helped Mumbai reduce Delhi’s deficit to 18 runs at one stage with 18 off 5 overs. He took 9 wickets in that match and 25 wickets in the entire tournament at an average of 18.72. Before that game, he played for Rajasthan in the Kanga Cricket League in 1979 for Sindh Sports Club. In the first match, he dismissed four batsmen for 36 runs and helped his team defeat the United Cricket Team by 90 runs. In the next game, against Shivaji Park Gymkhana, he took 7 for 35. In the 1982-83 season, he took 5 wickets in the Irani Trophy and 8 wickets in the West Zone Duleep Trophy before making his way into the Indian team. That season, he also scored 56 points as the 11th-leading batsman in the West Division.
Balwinder Sandhu bowling action
With Madan Lal opting out with a heel bone injury, Balwinder got a chance to play the fourth Test in Hyderabad and he bowled Mohsin Khan in back-to-back Khan and the wickets of Haroon Rashid. However, Javed Miandad and Mudassar Nazar created a record of 451 collaborations. While batting, Balwinder scored a quick 71 runs while batting at No. 9 and forged a crucial partnership with Mohinder Amarnath. The 71 runs were scored when India scored 72 for 7. In the next Test series against West Indies at Bridgetown, he scored 68 runs in the first innings. After that Test, he took only three wickets from three West Indies batsmen and only one run. In the 1983 World Cup, he scored 22 runs for the tenth wicket along with Syed Kirmani and helped India score 183 in the final against West Indies. In that innings, he was hit on the ear by the bowling bouncer of Malcolm Marshall. Recalling that moment, he said:
“It was like someone had slapped me hard. I just felt my ears burning and there was a whirring sound in my left ear. But I also knew one thing – I had to show them that I felt no pain. Morally The victory must have been mine. I didn’t even scratch the wound, I turned to Marshall like nothing happened.”
Furthermore, he added,
“West Indies knew I could be a stubborn No. 11. I kept going and frustrated them. They wanted to get rid of me. Not just Marshall, all of them took a dig at me too. But that incident with the helmet The blow made me even more stubborn. “I’ll tell you now! ” I think.”
During West Indies’ batting, Balwinder Sandhu bowled the second ball with Kapil Dev and took Gordon Greenidge Greenidge’s major wicket, which set the tone for India’s victory. This delivery is also known as “banana peel delivery”.Revealing the news of the dismissal, he told
“Kapil Dev and I kept arguing about it. I kept telling him that the Richards wicket was the game-changing moment because it was at a crucial stage. My delivery got Greenidge out and got us Kapil’s catch opened the door for us but the Greenidge wicket gave us hope and the world lives in hope.”
Gordon Greenidge bowled by Balwinder Sandhu in the 1983 World Cup final
Scenes from the home stadium after India won the 1983 World Cup
He played his last Test against West Indies in Ahmedabad on November 12, 1983. He took one wicket in the second innings while Kapil Dev took all nine wickets and scored 83 runs. In the 1984-85 season, he scored 98 runs against Tamil Nadu, helping Mumbai take a first-innings lead in the Ranji semi-finals. After retiring, he became a coach for Mumbai and Punjab. Apart from this, he is also associated with the National Cricket Academy. In 1990, he played for the Kenyan club. After becoming Baroda coach, he made minor changes to Indian pacer Zaheer Khan’s run-up and helped his team finish in the top four in the Ranji Trophy season. In 2008, he also became a member of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) for a time.
Favorites
- Sports: Hockey, Badminton, Football
Facts/Trivia
- Recalling his experience with Ramakant Achrekar, he said:
“When I was playing in Achrekar Sir’s team, he used to say, Tumhare paas inswing achha hai, usko develop karo,” [you have good inswing, you should develop it]. In a game organized by my husband, I once hit 20-25 goals in a game. This helps improve my accuracy. Later I came to know that Mr Achrekar had given instructions to all the captains: “Ye Sardar ki bowling band nahin karne ki. Jab tak isko maar nahin padti ya ye thak nahin jaata”, [Don’t stop this Sardar’s bowling till he is hit for runs or he tires out]”
- He has written a book titled “The Devil’s Pack”, which was published on February 1, 2011. This book tells the story of India’s journey to winning the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
balwinder sandhu books
- A Bollywood movie released on December 24, 2021 tells the story of India’s journey to win the 1983 World Cup. The movie is titled ’83’ and stars Ammy Virk as Balwinder Sandhu.
Balwinder Sandhu and Ammy Virk
- His uncle Harcharan Singh played with the Indian team in the 1975 Hockey World Cup.
- He reveals some of his unforgettable moments from the 1983 World Cup,
“This is an incident that remains fresh in my mind. During the final, I was defending on the sideline and a West Indies fan told me that India cannot win the World Cup and West Indies will win the World Cup. When I got the first three At the wicket, he started taunting me again and said, ‘India can’t win the World Cup;’ Do you want to bet that West Indies are going to win the World Cup, even though West Indies are losing wickets regularly, and he kept repeating that throughout the game. Lines. Even after they were nine runs behind, he continued to support his team which I think is what every team wants and that’s the spirit of the West Indies; they enjoyed a great innings. They cheer for good cricket, they love their team and their cricketing heroes, even if they fail sometimes.”
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education