Three Indian Cricketers Born on August 3, One Played Key Role in 1983 World Cup Win

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): '3 August' is a very special day in Indian cricket history. On this day, three such players were born who left a deep mark in their short careers. One of these players also played an important role in helping India win the 'World Cup' title.

Balwinder Sandhu: Sandhu, who played a key role in India's victory in the 1983 World Cup by dismissing West Indies opener Gordon Greenidge in the final match, was born in Bombay in 1956. Sandhu, a right-arm medium pace bowler, was adept at swinging the ball both ways. He was also a useful batsman.

In his debut Test match against Pakistan, Sandhu took two wickets and scored 71 runs in India's first innings while batting at number nine. If we look at Sandhu's international career, he took 10 wickets in eight Tests and scored 214 runs. He has 16 wickets in his name in 22 ODIs. Balwinder Sandhu took 168 wickets in 55 first class matches, while he has 36 wickets in 42 List-A matches.

Gopal Sharma: Born in Kanpur in 1960, Gopal Sharma is the first cricketer from Uttar Pradesh to play in the senior Indian men's team in independent India. The right-arm off-spinner made his Test debut in 1985 and took three wickets in his first innings against England.

Gopal Sharma played a total of 5 matches in his Test career, in which he took 10 wickets. He also took the same number of wickets in 11 ODI matches. Gopal Sharma could not make his international career long among players like Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Maninder Singh, Arshad Ayub, Shivlal Yadav, Ravi Shastri and Narendra Hirwani.

However, Gopal Sharma had a brilliant first-class career in which he played 104 matches and took 353 wickets at an average of 30.01.

Apoorv Sengupta: Born in 1939, Apoorv Sengupta was the first player from Lucknow to play a Test match. Apoorv Sengupta was a brilliant leg-break bowler and also a fine batsman, who played his only Test in January 1959.

Sengupta played his first first-class match in 1958–59. Playing as a military cadet for Services against the West Indies, he scored 35 and 100 not out. In his first Ranji Trophy match in the same season, he took 6 wickets for 32 runs against Delhi. Sengupta played a total of 45 matches in his first-class career, scoring 1695 runs in addition to taking 21 wickets.