Joginder Sharma, an Indian cricketer, was born on October 23, 1983 in Rohtak, Haryana. He is an all-rounder, who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm fast-medium.
His father Om Prakash Sharma runs a small shop and despite difficulties, Joginder Sharma continued with his effort and has come a long way to earn comparisons to Kapil Dev, India’s greatest all-rounder, for his batting and bowling styles. “Jogi”, as he is fondly called, graduated from MD University, Rohtak and his brother Ashwani is also a cricketer. Even his cousin, Narender and nephew, Rahul, are cricketers and he hopes to inspire many more cricket aspirants.
Joginder Sharma made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Bangladesh on December 23, 2004 and made two crucial unbeaten knocks towards the end of the innings in the series. He also played in the second ODI against the West Indies in January 2007 at Cuttack. As of September 2008, Joginder Sharma has played four ODI matches and has scored 35 runs, his highest being 29*.
Joginder Sharma was picked for the 2007 Twenty20 (T20) World Cup in South Africa and made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut on September 19, 2007 in the match against England. He contributed to India’s 15-run semi-final victory over Australia by bowling the final over and taking two wickets. In the finals, Joginder Sharma again bowled the final over and took the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq, which was the match-winning wicket, and helped India lift the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship Trophy. In recognition of his contribution to the win, the Haryana government rewarded him with a cash prize of Rs. 21 lakh.
Joginder Sharma played for India A in a match against the national team in Bangalore, where he took the wickets of Rahul Dravid, V. V. S. Laxman and Yuvraj Singh, and was also a part of the victorious Rest of India team, which won the Irani Trophy defeating Mumbai.
His maiden First-class appearance came at the 2002-03 Ranji Trophy for Haryana, in a match against Madhya Pradesh. Joginder Sharma made 81 runs and scalped eleven wickets and was instrumental in Haryana’s 103-run victory. At the end of his debut season, his statistics read as 280 runs scored at an average of 46.6 and 24 wickets at an average of 17.41. During the next Ranji season, Joginder Sharma scored 148 runs and picked up 23 wickets. Following this he was picked for the North Zone team, for which he took six wickets in a Duleep Trophy match against West Zone.
At the 2004-05 Ranji Trophy, Joginder Sharma scored two successive centuries and picked up fourteen wickets against the Vidarbha team. He finished that Ranji Trophy season with 36 wickets at 15.47, which was the second best bowling performance, and scored 472 runs at 52.44.
In the next season, he topped the Duleep Trophy bowling average by recording 11.42, and followed it up with 421 runs off three matches in the following year during the 2006-07 Duleep Trophy campaign. In November 2006, in a Ranji Trophy match, Joginder Sharma recorded a hat-trick against Andhra Pradesh in his seven-wicket haul. He went on to take 39 wickets, which included two ten-wicket hauls and the hat-trick, off seven matches and became the leading wicket-taker at the Ranji Trophy that season.
At the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL), Joginder Sharma was signed by Chennai Super Kings for US$ 225,000. He played eight matches for the team and bowled 24.4 overs, taking eight wickets, his best being 2/27 against Bangalore.
