Outlook – July 28, 2019

“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