Rakesh Shukla (cricketer)

Rakesh Chandra Shukla pronunciation  (4 February 1948 – 29 June 2019) was an Indian cricketer.[1]

This article is about the cricket player. For the politician, see Rakesh Shukla (politician).

Rakesh Shukla
Personal information
BattingRight-hand bat
BowlingLegbreak googly
RelationsAnand Shukla (brother)
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 160)17 September 1982 v Sri Lanka
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class List A
Matches 1 121 23
Runs scored - 3798 333
Batting average - 31.91 23.78
100s/50s -/- 6/17 -/-
Top score - 163* 40
Balls bowled 294 16846 697
Wickets 2 295 14
Bowling average 76.00 24.53 35.78
5 wickets in innings - 7 -
10 wickets in match - 1 -
Best bowling 2/82 7/83 3/25
Catches/stumpings -/- 71/- 1/-
Source: Cricinfo

Career

A modest debut and a number of exceptional innings marked Shukla's cricket career, which was interspersed with some robust all-round show that gave him a distinct identity among the top spinners of the country. He was a leg-spinner who loved the googly more than the traditional line of attack which he was quite adept at. At his best, on slightly helpful pitches, the ball would whizz past the off-stump after beginning the arc from outside leg.

Born in Kanpur, Shukla was seven years younger than his brother Anand Shukla,[2] another leg-break bowler and handy batsman who played domestic cricket for a long time. A study of the careers of the two brothers will reveal how close their records have been. Anand's numbers are better, but that has a lot to do with the fact that he played for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which were in the weaker zones of the Ranji Trophy.

Shukla played for Hartlepool Cricket Club in the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cricket League. He took 61 wickets and scored over 1,300 runs in 1982 to help the club win the league. While still in England, he was selected in the Indian Test team to play against Sri Lanka in Madras. Shukla went wicketless in the first innings. In the second he dismissed the two highest scorers - Roy Dias (97) edged to Sunil Gavaskar at slip after misreading a googly, and Duleep Mendis (105) was bowled. [3]

After he quit cricket Shukla became a cricket consultant, providing coaching and guidance to young players and professionals. He was a member of the Delhi Selection Committee headed by Chetan Chauhan. He was also a popular commentator on All India Radio.[1]

gollark: Perhaps. I don't see why my computer would be much worse than average for that, though.
gollark: Humanbenchmark has a bunch of other things. I have this vaguely weird set of results.
gollark: Perhaps you could try and get a more comfortable keyboard.
gollark: If you blame xorg, try wayland?
gollark: No. As far as I know, at least, load is added more by being in channels than by having lots of people. And if lots of people are in the same channels, this doesn't create much additional load.

References
  1. Former India spinner Rakesh Shukla passes away
  2. Ramchand, Partab. "Rakesh Shukla". ESPN Cricinfo. ESPN Sports Media Ltd. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  3. Interview in Sportsworld, "I should have been on tour part to England", 6 October, 1982, pp 31-33


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