Former Indian cricketer Rakesh Shukla passes away at 71 on Saturday in New Delhi. The bowling all rounder represented India in 1 test match during his career.
However, he is one of the best cricketers to represent Delhi at domestic tournaments. He also represented Bihar at domestic level. Rakesh Shukla is a very handy player with the bat at lower middle order.
Rakesh Shukla played his lone test match against Sri Lanka at Chennai in 1982. In the game, he managed to pick two wickets in the second innings. However, he did not get a call back into the national team. He is one of the very few cricketers who represented India in just one test match.
Despite all this, he is one of the most loved cricketers among his teammates for his nature.
“I learnt my lessons from my seniors and it is my duty to pass on the knowledge to the current generation,” Shukla often say.
Rakesh Shukla learned a lot from his brother Anand, who is also a leg spinner. However, over the years he earned a lot of respect for the way he beat batsmen through flighting the ball.
“He was not afraid of flighting the ball. What I loved most about him was his spirit to fight. No batsman could challenge him on a help pitch. He was a match-winner,” said his long time Delhi teammate Madan Lal.
“I had many partnerships with him. He could bat sensibly and also guide his partner,” remembered Madan.
He was mostly remembered for helping Delhi chase 705 against Karnataka in 1982 Ranji Trophy.
Captain Mohinder Amarnath and Gursharan Singh hit centuries to ensure that the platform is laid for the record chase. However, it was Rakesh Shukla who did the finishing job for his side coming at No.9 to bat.
Coming in at 548, he scored an unbeaten 69 along with Rajesh Peter (67 not out). The duo put up an impressive 118-run partnership on the day to give a memorable win to Delhi. This match is still cherished in the domestic circuit and the result had definitely turned some heads across the country back then.
He played 121 first class career matches during his career which ended in 1985/86 season. However, despite doing good job in the domestic competitions, he was not considered for the national team against after the game against Sri Lanka.
Shukla always loved training youngsters for the upcoming generations of Indian cricket. He ran an academy at YMCA in Delhi.
“Cricket teaches you to live life honestly. You must respect the laws of the game and never show dissent on the field,” was his philosophy.
The loss is definitely huge for Indian cricket and can only hope that his name remains in Indian cricket history for the efforts he made towards the game.
