10 Facts about Navjot Singh Sidhu - The ingenious Sardar

10 Facts about Navjot Singh Sidhu – The ingenious Sardar: One of India’s most gifted and a popular cricketers, Navjot Singh Sidhu was a gutsy batsman. A sound technique against the fast bowlers and a wonderful attacking intent against the spinners made him a regular feature in the Indian line-up in Tests and ODIs. An all-rounder of sorts, post retirement from cricket he has become a television commentary, a politician, a reality show contestant and a permanent guest on some popular comedy shows in India.

1 Birth:

Navjot Singh Sidhu was born on 20^th October, 1963 in Patiala, Punjab, in northern India.

2. Early impressions:

Navjot Singh Sidhu made his Test debut against the West Indies at Ahmedabad in November 1983. But he was dropped after playing only 2 Tests due to lack of runs. This prompted Rajan Bala, a noted cricket columnist, to write an article on him titled ‘Sidhu: The Strokeless Wonder’ in Indian Express.

3. The spectacular comeback:

Navjot Singh Sidhu made a sensational comeback in the Reliance World Cup in 1987 scoring half-centuries in 4 of the 5 matches. His ODI debut in this tournament was against Australia in which he scored a belligerent 73 off 79 balls. Siddhu batted at number 3 and smashed 6 sixes and 4 fours. India lost this dramatic match by just 1 run; one of the most famous World Cup matches ever. Applauding his stellar performances, Bala wrote an article titled ‘Sidhu: From Strokeless Wonder To A Palm-Grove Hitter’. Sidhu in an interview has mentioned that Bala’s first article, criticizing his performance, had changed his cricketing life.

4. Test career:

Navjot Singh Sidhu celebrated his Test return by scoring a century (116) in the 1st Test against New Zealand at Bangalore in November 1988. Indian won the match by 172 runs. He did well in Pakistan in 1989, in New Zealand and in England in 1990 before temporarily losing his place in the team. But he forced his way back again during the 1993 England tour of India.

Navjot Singh Sidhu scored over 500 Test runs in a year thrice (1993, 1994 and 1997). In the 1996 tour of England, following a misunderstanding with the captain Azharuddin, he left the team and returned home. Navjot Singh Sidhu scored a double century (201) against the West Indies at Trinidad in 1997. Navjot Singh Sidhu retired from cricket in 1999. He played 51 Tests, scoring 3202 runs at an average of 42.13, with the help of 15 half-centuries and 9 tons.

5. ODI career:

Navjot Singh Sidhu played 136 ODIs scoring 4413 runs at an average of 37.08. Navjot Singh Sidhu scored 33 half-centuries and 6 tons with a career best of 134 not out against England at Gwalior in March 1993. Opening the batting he carried his bat through and helped India chase a target of 257 runs. One of his most memorable ODI knocks was against arch-rivals Pakistan in the quarter final of the 1996 World Cup. Navjot Singh Sidhu top scored for his team scoring 93 and was rightly adjudged the payer of the match for his vital contribution. Defending 287 India won this memorable match by 39 runs.

6. Sidhu v Spin:

Navjot Singh Sidhu was ruthless against spinners. Navjot Singh Sidhu cracked 8 sixes in a knock of 124 against Sri Lanka who had the likes of Muralitharan in 1993-94. Navjot Singh Sidhu also scored 4 fifties in 5 innings against the touring Aussies in 1997-98, singling out Warne for a hammering. Tendulkar v Warne was the contest everyone was looking for but it was Sidhu who dented the great leg spinner’s confidence first, hitting massive sixes at will.

7. Nicknames: 

Apart from his name Navjyot, his father also named him ‘Sherry’. Some of his nicknames were ‘Sixer Sidhu’ for his prolific batting performances and ‘Jonty Singh’ with respect to his improved fielding in his late career.

8. Commentator and television career:

Navjot Singh Sidhu is noted for his one-liners, which are known as ‘Sidhuisms’. He has worked for Nimbus, Ten Sports and ESPN Star Sports. He appears regularly as a “cricket analyst” on various Indian news channels.

Navjot Singh Sidhu has figured as a judge on the television programme called ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’. He features in a comedy show named ‘Comedy Nights With Kapil’ and has also been a contestant in a reality show ‘Bigg Boss 6’.

Also Check out: 10 best quotes from Navjyot Singh Sidhu ‘The Siddhuism’

9. Politics:

Navjot Singh Sidhu won on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket from the Amritsar seat in the Indian general elections, 2004 and started his political career. Navjot Singh Sidhu has recently hinted at giving up his professional commitments in case he is given a bigger responsibility by the party in Punjab.

10. Movies:

Navjot Singh Sidhu made a special appearance in the film ‘Mujhse Shaadi Karogi’. Navjot Singh Sidhu also acted in a Punjabi movie ‘Mera Pind’. His cameo appearance in the ‘ABCD 2’ was with his all time comedy mate Kapil Sharma.