Not many may be aware that Chetan Chahuan came to the rescue of a young Navjot Singh Sidhu, medium-pacers Yograj Singh and Rajinder Ghei in the days following the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.
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This incident took place when the North Zone team was returning by train from Pune after the Duleep Trophy final was cancelled in view of the tense situation that prevailed in the country after the assassination.
Recalling the incident, former Haryana off-spinner, Sarkar Talwar, said, "We were travelling from Pune to Delhi and the journey took four days. The train made several unscheduled stops and on several occasions, mobs entered the compartment looking for people from a certain community.
Former Haryana off-spinner Sarkar Talwar. File
"Chetan ji, being the senior-most member of the team and a known face, realised the gravity of the situation. Truly, he led from the front and faced the miscreants head on. Once the crowd recognised him, they would show their respects and move away.
"I remember, Navjot was very scared. Chetan ji ensured Yograj and Ghei were safe and were not spotted by the mob. He showed tremendous guts in a situation that left most of us unnerved.
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"After all, he was a gutsy cricketer. I recall a Delhi-Haryana Ranji Trophy match at Rai. Chetan ji came to the crease with a broken jaw and scored a century against our Haryana attack. Later, I guess, he played three more matches and scored a century in each. He really took Ranji Trophy matches as seriously as Test matches.
"I don't think we'll see another fine human being and a cricketer of such calibre again," concluded Talwar.
