Chetan Chauhan

Chetan Pratap Singh Chauhan (pronunciation^ⓘ; 21 July 1947 – 16 August 2020) was a cricketer who played 40 Test matches for India. He played Ranji Trophy for Maharashtra and Delhi. Chauhan played most of his international cricket in the late 1970s and was the regular opening partner of Sunil Gavaskar during that period. Chetan Chauhan was appointed Chairman of NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) from June 2016 to June 2017. He was also twice elected to the Lok Sabha from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, in 1991 and 1998. From 2018 to 2020, he was minister for youth and sports in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.^[1]

Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan with The Union Minister for Textiles, Smt. Smriti Irani lighting the lamp at the convocation ceremony of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), in New Delhi.
Member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
In office 24 February 2017 – 16 August 2020
Preceded by	Ashfaq Ali Khan
Succeeded by	Sangeeta Chauhan
Member of Parliament of the Lok Sabha
In office 1991–1998
Preceded by	Har Govind Singh
Succeeded by	Raashid Alvi
Constituency	Amroha
Personal details
Born	(1947-07-21)21 July 1947 Bareilly, United Provinces, British India (now in Uttar Pradesh, India)
Died	16 August 2020(2020-08-16) (aged 73) Gurugram, Haryana, India
Cause of death	Cardiac arrest after COVID-19
Citizenship	Indian
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse	Sangeeta Chauhan
Alma mater	Wadia College, Pune, Maharashtra
Awards	Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (1984)
Cricket information
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off spin
Role	Opening batsman
International information
National side	India
Test debut (cap 118)	25 September 1969 v New Zealand
Last Test	13 April 1981 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 24)	1 October 1978 v Pakistan
Last ODI	15 February 1981 v New Zealand
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1967/68–1974/75	Maharashtra
1975/76–1984/85	Delhi
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 40 7 179 26 Runs scored 2084 153 11,143 617 Batting average 31.57 21.85 40.22 24.68 100s/50s 0/16 0/0 21/59 0/4 Top score 97 46 207 90 Balls bowled 174 0 3,536 36 Wickets 2  – 51 1 Bowling average 53.00  – 34.13 26.00 5 wickets in innings 0  – 1 0 10 wickets in match 0 – 0 0 Best bowling 1/4  – 6/26 1/26 Catches/stumpings 38/–  – 189/– 6/–
Source: CricketArchive, 30 September 2008

On 12 July 2020, he was admitted to hospital after testing positive for COVID-19. He died due to complications and multiple organ failure on 16 August 2020 at the age of 73.^[2][3]

Early days

Chauhan was born in Uttar Pradesh in a Hindu Rajput family.^[4][5] The family moved to Pune in Maharashtra in 1960 where Chauhan's father, an army officer, was transferred.^[6] He took his bachelor's degrees at Wadia College in Pune. There he was coached by the former Maharashtra player Kamal Bhandarkar.^[7] Chauhan represented Pune University in the Rohinton Baria Trophy in 1966–67 and was selected to represent West Zone for the interzonal Vizzy Trophy in the same season. He scored 103 against North Zone and 88 & 63 against South Zone in the final. His opening partner in the second innings was Sunil Gavaskar.^[8]

More success in the Vizzy trophy in 1967 led to his selection in the Maharashtra Ranji team. Chauhan's first hundred came next year when he was first in and last out against Bombay on a rain affected wicket where the first six wickets fell for 52. He scored 103 against South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final against five Test bowlers and was selected to play for India in 1969–70.^[9]

Test cricket

Chauhan made his Test debut against New Zealand at the Bombay. He took 25 minutes to score his first run, a square cut for four off Bruce Taylor. His next scoring shot was a hook for six off the same bowler. Chauhan was dropped after two Tests, made an appearance against Australia later in the season, failed, and was dropped again for three years.^[10]

Chauhan scored 873 runs in the 1972–73 Ranji season for Maharashtra which was then the second highest aggregate for a season. This included double hundreds in consecutive matches against Gujarat and Vidarbha.^[11] Chauhan and Madhu Gupte shared an opening stand of 405 in the latter match. In between the double hundreds, he played two Tests against England. He failed and did not play a Test for another five years.^[12]

He moved to Delhi and the North Zone in 1975. One appearance against Sri Lanka in an unofficial Test ended in failure. In 1976–77, he scored 158 against Haryana (with a fractured jaw), 200 v Punjab, 147 v Karnataka and 150 against the Central Zone. Another Duleep trophy hundred early in the next season found him a place in the team to Australia.^[13]

Comeback

Chauhan scored 157 against Victoria in his first match of the tour. It took him 516 minutes and included just two fours. Paul Hibbert of Victoria had scored a hundred earlier in the match without a single boundary. Chauhan returned to the Indian team for the second Test at Perth and hit 88 in his very first innings. From then he missed only one Test until the end of his career and, except for one occasion, opened with Gavaskar every time. At Lahore against Pakistan they added 192, and 117 & 153 against West Indies at Bombay.^[14]

In England in 1979, they put on 213 in the second innings at The Oval when India missed the target of 438 by nine runs. Against Australia in 1980–81, Chauhan scored 249 runs in three Tests to Gavaskar's 118. He missed a hundred by three runs in Adelaide.^[15] At Melbourne in the next Test, he scored 85 and added 165 with Gavaskar before the latter was given out lbw to Dennis Lillee. Gavaskar, the captain, disputed the decision on the way out and ordered Chauhan to leave the field with him.^[16] An embarrassing situation was avoided when the Indian manager Wing Cmdr. Shahid Durrani persuaded Chauhan to return. Touring New Zealand after the trip to Australia, Chauhan scored 78 in the second Test and 36 & 7 in the third.^[17]

Later years

Chauhan was dropped after the tour and never selected for another Test match. He added 3022 runs with Gavaskar in their 59 opening stands, ten of which were over 100. He scored 2084 runs in his career with 16 fifties but without a century. His last first class match was the Ranji final against Bombay in 1985 where he scored 98 and 54 with a fractured finger.^[18] He also served as the Cricket coach of Indian team.^[19]

Chauhan received the Arjuna award in 1981.^[20]

Career in politics

Chauhan was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was a member of the Lok Sabha (lower house of the parliament) from Amroha in 1991 and 1998. He lost the elections from the same constituency in 1996, 1999 and 2004, finishing fourth on the last occasion. He then also made his comeback in the politics by defeating Alley Hasan of Bahujan Samaj Party in 1998 General Elections by defeating him by more than 35,000 votes.^[21] In 2017 he was elected to Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha from Naugawan Sadat (Assembly constituency), and made a minister in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's government.^[22]

Accomplishments

• Chauhan was the first Test cricketer to finish his Test career with over 2000 runs but without a century. As of 13 February 2022, Shane Warne (3154 runs) and Niroshan Dickwella (2443 runs) are the only other players with a similar record.^[23]
• Chauhan had 11 century stands with Gavaskar but one of them was for the fourth wicket. At Bombay against the West Indies in 1978–79 they opened together, but Chauhan retired early in the innings and came back at the fall of the third wicket.

Death

In July 2020, Chauhan tested positive for COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, and a month later he was placed on a ventilator following multiple organ failure.^[24] On 16 August 2020, he died in Gurugram at the age of 73.^{[2][25][26][27]}

References

1. "UP CM Adityanath Keeps Home, PWD for Maurya, Dinesh Gets Education". News18. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
2. "Chetan Chauhan, Sunil Gavaskar's longest-serving opening partner, dies at 73 .com". ESPNcricinfo. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
3. "Chetan Chauhan, former India opener, passes away at 73 after multiple organ failure". www.timesnownews.com. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
4. Lokapally, Vijay (16 August 2020). "Chetan Chauhan, the batsman who knew no fear". Sportstar. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
5. "When Chetan Chauhan's laugh riled Australia's Jeff Thomson". The Indian Express. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
6. "Chetan Chauhan's political innings blossomed during Mandal-Mandir times". Hindustan Times. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
7. Karmarkar, Amit (28 October 2019). "Kamal Bhandarkar: The coach who fine-tuned Sunil Gavaskar's technique". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
8. "Former India opener Chetan Chauhan passes away at 73". www.icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
9. "Ranji Trophy 1948-49: Bombay and Maharashtra engage in record run-feast". Cricket Country. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
10. "Sunil Gavaskar remembers Chetan Chauhan: Hard to believe that his cheerful banter won't be there". India Today. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
11. "Chetan Chauhan Wasn't a Cricketing 'Superstar', But There's Much He Should Be Remembered For". The Wire. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
12. Scroll Staff (12 January 2020). "Ranji Trophy wrap: Cheteshwar Pujara scores double century, Mumbai pile on the runs against TN". Scroll.in. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
13. "Chetan Chauhan was India captaincy material: Former Team India manager". The Times of India. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
14. "Former India cricketer Chetan Chauhan passes away due to Covid-19". Hindustan Times. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
15. "Yahoo Cricket". cricket.yahoo.net. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
16. "Chetan Chauhan, former cricketer and Uttar Pradesh minister passes away". Jagranjosh.com. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
17. "Full Scorecard of England vs India 4th Test 1979 - Score Report .com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
18. Mondal, Aratrick (11 July 2020). "Former India Test opener Chetan Chauhan tests coronavirus positive, hospitalised in Lucknow". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
19. "Chetan Chauhan dead, a look at his journey from Indian cricketer to UP cabinet minister". Zee News. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
20. "List of Indian cricketers winning Arjuna Award". Cricket Country. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
21. "Chetan Chauhan's political innings blossomed during Mandal-Mandir times". Hindustan Times. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
22. "Former India cricketer Chetan Chauhan dies after contracting coronavirus, suffering cardiac arrest". India Today. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
23. List of players with over 2000 runs with zero hundreds, ESPNcricinfo (accessed 13 February 2022)
24. "Chetan Chauhan critical after testing positive for Covid-19". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
25. "Former India opener Chetan Chauhan passes away at 73". The Times of India. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
26. "Chetan Chauhan, Former Cricketer And UP Minister, Dies of COVID-19". NDTV.com. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
27. "Former India cricketer Chetan Chauhan passes away due to Covid-19". Hindustan Times. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.

Sources

• Sujit Mukherjee, Matched Winners, Orient Longman (1996), p 105-119
• Indian Express, 26 September 1969

External links

• Chetan Chauhan at ESPNcricinfo
• Indian parliamentary biography
• Results of the Amroha elections

Lok Sabha
Preceded by Har Govind Singh	Member of Parliament for Amroha 1991 – 1996	Succeeded by Pratap Singh Saini
Preceded by Pratap Singh Saini	Member of Parliament for Amroha 1998 – 1999	Succeeded by Raashid Alvi