Chetan Pratap Singh Chauhan (; 21 July 1947 – 16 August 2020) was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er who played 40 Test matches for

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. He played

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

for Maharashtra and Delhi. He played most of his international cricket in the late 1970s and was the regular opening partner of

Sunil Gavaskar Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ ; born 10 July 1949), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who represented India and Bombay from 1971 to 1987. Gavaskar is acknowledged as one of the grea ...

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 The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

from

Amroha Amroha is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is located north-west of Moradabad, near the Ganga River. It is the administrative headquarters of the Amroha district. Geography Amroha is located north-west of Moradabad, near th ...

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. On 12 July 2020, he was admitted to the hospital after testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

. He died due to complications and multiple organ failure on 16 August 2020 at the age of 73.

Early days

Chauhan was born in Uttar Pradesh in a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

family. Then he moved to

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

in 1960 where his father, an army officer, was transferred. He took his bachelor's degrees at Wadia College in Pune. There he was coached by the former

player

Kamal Bhandarkar Kamal Vinayakrao Bhandarkar (21 February 1911 – 10 December 1986) was an Indian cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1935 to 1949. Bhandarkar was a wicketkeeper-batsman. He was a member of the Ranji Trophy winning teams of Maharashtra ...

. Chauhan represented Pune University in the

Rohinton Baria Trophy The All-India Inter-University Cricket Championship held for the Rohinton Baria Gold Trophy (or simply, Rohinton Baria Trophy) is India's premier inter-university cricket tournament. It has been contested annually since the 1935/36 season. Histo ...

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. More success in the Vizzy trophy in 1967 led to his selection in the Maharashtra

Ranji Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933), often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, as M ...

team. Chauhan's first hundred came next year when he was first in and last out against

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

on a rain affected wicket where the first six wickets fell for 52. He scored 103 against South Zone in the

Duleep Trophy The Duleep Trophy, also known as Mastercard Duleep trophy due to sponsorship reasons, is a domestic first-class cricket competition played in India. Named after Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji of Nawanagar (also known as 'Duleep'), the competition wa ...

final against five Test bowlers and was selected to play for India in 1969–70.

Test cricket

Chauhan made his Test debut against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

at the

. He took 25 minutes to score his first run, a square cut for four off Bruce Taylor. His next scoring shot was a

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

for six off the same bowler. Chauhan was dropped after two Tests, made an appearance against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

later in the season, failed, and was dropped again for three years. 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. 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. He moved to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and the North Zone in 1975. One appearance against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

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.

Comeback

Chauhan scored 157 against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in his first match of the tour. It took him 516 minutes and included just two fours.

Paul Hibbert Paul Anthony Hibbert (23 July 1952 – 27 November 2008) was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test in 1977. He was born in Brunswick, Victoria. Hibbert is one of only two men to make a century in first-class cricket without hitting a b ...

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 Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

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 Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

they added 192, and 117 & 153 against

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. In England in 1979, they put on 213 in the second innings at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

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 Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. At

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

in the next Test, he scored 85 and added 165 with Gavaskar before the latter was given out lbw to

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is Australian retired cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

. Gavaskar, the captain, disputed the decision on the way out and ordered Chauhan to leave the field with him. 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.

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. He also served as the Cricket coach of Indian team. Chauhan received the

Arjuna award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

in 1981.

Career in politics

Chauhan was a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

. He was a member of the Lok Sabha (lower house of the parliament) from

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 The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a national level political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), al ...

in 1998 General Elections by defeating him by more than 35,000 votes. 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.

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 Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer, whose career ran from 1991 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a right-handed batsman for Victoria, Hampshire and Australi ...

(3154 runs) and

Niroshan Dickwella Dickwella Patabendige Dilantha Niroshan Dickwella, known as Niroshan Dickwella (born 23 June 1993), is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who plays all formats of the game for Sri Lanka. A left-hand batsman, he also plays as a wicket-keeper of ...

(2443 runs) are the only other players with a similar record. * Chauhan had 11 century stands with Gavaskar but one of them was for the fourth wicket. At

against the

in 1978–79 they opened together, but Chauhan retired early in the innings and came back at the fall of the third wicke

Death

In July 2020, Chauhan tested positive for

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in India The COVID-19 pandemic in India is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , according to Indian government figures, India has the second-highest n ...

, and a month later he was placed on a ventilator following multiple organ failure. On 16 August 2020, he died in Gurugram at the age of 73.

References

Sources

Sujit Mukherjee Sujit Mukherjee (21 August 1930 – 14 January 2003) was an Indian writer, translator, literary critic, publisher, teacher and cricketer. Career Sujit Mukherjee was born in the village of Ariadaha, south of Calcutta, and educated at St. Xavier's ...

, ''Matched Winners'', Orient Longman (1996), p 105-119 *

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

, 26 September 1969

External links

*
Indian parliamentary biography

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chauhan, Chetan 1947 births 2020 deaths Delhi cricketers Indian cricketers India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers North Zone cricketers Maharashtra cricketers West Zone cricketers Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2017–2022 Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh People from Amroha district People from Bareilly Cricketers from Uttar Pradesh Recipients of the Arjuna Award Indian sportsperson-politicians India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1998–1999 Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Yogi ministry State cabinet ministers of Uttar Pradesh Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India Deaths from multiple organ failure