By IANS
Rohtak (Haryana) : He is no ‘Haryana Hurricane’ like the legendary Kapil Dev. But medium pacer Joginder Sharma’s roller-coaster last over, which accounted for Pakistan’s last wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq and saw India claim the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship, has catapulted the resident of this dusty town onto the world stage.
“We will celebrate Diwali (the festival of light) from today till Diwali actually comes,” Sharma’s brother Raju told IANS amidst much screaming and celebratory revelry at the family residence near Rohtak’s railway station.
Raju said his parents were very happy with India’s win and Joginder’s role in that.
The Sharma family has never experienced so much of media and public attention as it did last week.
“We are feeling on top of the world. Joginder has done our family and the country proud,” Raju added even as firecrackers continued to erupt all around.
Joginder’s father Om Prakash Sharma has been running his ‘paan’ (betel) shop as usual near the railway station.
But Monday was different for the Sharma family as relatives and neighbours in the locality gathered to watch the match on a TV set.
The family almost missed Joginder’s last over in the match against Australia as the electricity supply was disrupted when he was bowling Saturday night. But the power was restored just in time for the family to watch him bowl the last four balls and claim two wickets.
Only last month, Joginder Sharma, who is employed with the Haryana Police, was promoted to the rank of deputy superintendent of police.