Outlook – July 28, 2019

(Axel Boer) #1
“The chance
of ending the
misery of
someone
that you get
in this job
gives huge
satisfaction,”
says Sharma.

P


AKISTAN needs 13 runs in an over, with
one wicket remaining. It’s the finals of
T20 World Cup in 2007, and they are
playing arch-rivals India. “Maahi (M.S.
Dhoni) handed me the ball and said,
‘Khul kar daal’ (Bowl with your heart),” says
Joginder Sharma, the bowler trusted by the
captain for the critical task. The first del ivery
turned out to be a wide. “Everybody got tense,
but I was smiling. The ball had swung. Swing
was my strength.” Sharma bow led a dot ball,
was hit for a six, and then dismissed Misbah-
ul-Haq as he att e mpted a fanciful scoop,
helping India lift the World Cup.
Mightily pleased with his feat, the Haryana
government gave Joginder a job in the police
department the same year. He is now a deputy
superintendent of police and is posted in Hisar.
From cricketing to policing, it has been a veri-
table leap from one world to another. “In cric-
ket, your circle is limited to a few. But as a cop,
you meet so many different people every day.
Cricket gives you fame. Policing gives you the
ability to discern people,” says Joginder, add-
ing that his current job keeps him grounded.


Growing up in trying circumstances
in Rohtak, Joginder started doing odd jobs
since the age of 10. His father was a small-time
shopkeeper. Gilli danda, kanchey, golf with a
wooden stick, football with a cricket ball...Jog-
inder was used to make do with little. And he
doesn’t ever remember not playing cricket, the
love of his life. The pull is so extreme that even
in uniform he sometimes joins youngsters in
playing cricket. The fact that he keeps himself
supremely fit certainly enables him to do so.
However, the demands of his job mean taking
time out for friends has become tough for him.
“But the opportunity of easing somebody’s
miseries that you get in this job gives you imm-
ense satisfaction,” says Joginder. The compul-
sions of a top policemen’s hectic schedule
demand adjustments. His children, 12 and 8,
live in neighbouring Rohtak with his wife and
parents. The kids make him homesick all the
time, he says. Joginder credits his mother for
all his success, and fondly reminisces her exh-
ortatory words: Jitna soyega, utna khoyega
(The more you sleep, the more you lose). O
Salik Ahmad in Hisar

‘Cricket gives fame, policing


teaches you to assess people’


Joginder Sharma
Former cricketer

DIFFERENT FIELDS
Joginder Sharma as
DSP in Hisar; top,
exulting after that
miracle over at the T20
World Cup final that
stopped Pakistan

29 July 2019 OUTLOOK 39


SURESH K. PANDEY

AP
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