Ajay Sharma

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Ajay Sharma

| image =

| country = India

| fullname = Ajay Sharma

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|4|3|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Delhi, India

| bowling = Slow left-arm orthodox

| role = Batsman

| family = Manan Sharma (son)

| international = true

| onetest = true

| testdebutdate = 11 January

| testdebutyear = 1988

| testdebutfor = India

| testdebutagainst = West Indies

| testcap = 182

| odidebutdate = 2 January

| odidebutyear = 1988

| odidebutfor = India

| odidebutagainst = West Indies

| odicap = 64

| lastodidate = 16 November

| lastodiyear = 1998

| lastodifor = India

| lastodiagainst = West Indies

| club1 = Delhi

| year1 = 1984–2000

| club2 = Himachal Pradesh

| year2 = 2000–2001

| columns = 4

| column1 = Test

| matches1 = 1

| runs1 = 53

| bat avg1 = 26.5

| 100s/50s1 = 0/0

| top score1 = 30

| deliveries1 = 24

| wickets1 = 0

| bowl avg1 = –

| fivefor1 = –

| tenfor1 = –

| best bowling1 = –

| catches/stumpings1 = 0/–

| column2 = ODI

| matches2 = 31

| runs2 = 424

| bat avg2 = 20.19

| 100s/50s2 = 0/3

| top score2 = 59

| deliveries2 = 1,140

| wickets2 = 15

| bowl avg2 = 58.33

| fivefor2 = 0

| tenfor2 = 0

| best bowling2 = 3/41

| catches/stumpings2 = 26/–

| column3 = FC

| matches3 = 129

| runs3 = 10,120

| bat avg3 = 67.46

| 100s/50s3 = 38/36

| top score3 = 259*

| deliveries3 = 6,438

| wickets3 = 87

| bowl avg3 = 31.01

| fivefor3 = 1

| tenfor3 = 0

| best bowling3 = 5/34

| catches/stumpings3 = 94/–

| column4 = LA

| matches4 = 113

| runs4 = 2,814

| bat avg4 = 36.07

| 100s/50s4 = 2/20

| top score4 = 135*

| deliveries4 = 3,985

| wickets4 = 108

| bowl avg4 = 28.37

| fivefor4 = 2

| tenfor4 = 0

| best bowling4 = 5/30

| catches/stumpings4 = 43/–

| date = 14 December

| year = 2009

| source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/1/1877/1877.html CricketArchive

|medaltemplates=

{{MedalCountry|{{IND}}}}

}}

Ajay Kumar Sharma ({{Audio|Ajay_Sharma.ogg|pronunciation}}) (born 3 April 1964) is a former Indian cricketer.

Sharma was a prolific run-maker in first-class cricket, mainly for Delhi, scoring over 10,000 runs, at an average of 67.46.{{cite web |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/1/1877/1877.html|title=Ajay Sharma (CricketArchive)|access-date=2006-06-09}} He was a part of the Indian squad which won the 1988 Asia Cup.

Domestic career

In the Ranji Trophy, Sharma scored a record 31 centuries[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Records/Series/Ranji_Trophy/Batting_Records/Most_Hundreds.html Ranji Trophy - Most Hundreds] CricketArchive and his batting average of approximately 80 in the competition is second only to Vijay Merchant.[http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/87472.html Ajay Sharma in elite company] ESPNcricinfo[http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/87471.html Breakup of Ajay Sharma's first-class statistics] ESPNcricinfo In the 1996–97 season, he became only the third player to score over 1,000 runs in a Ranji Trophy season. He played in six Ranji Trophy finals for Delhi, scoring centuries in four of them, but only twice ended up on the winning side (1985–86 and 1991–92). Sharma also regularly represented North Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

International career

Despite his strong domestic record, Sharma only played one Test match for India - against the West Indies in January 1988.[http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63469.html 4th Test: India v West Indies at Chennai, 11-15 January 1988] ESPNcricinfo He played 31 One Day Internationals for India from 1988 to 1993.

In December 1988, he scored back-to-back fifties against New Zealand, but he did not reach those heights again except for a 59 not out (his highest ODI score) against Zimbabwe in March 1993.[http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/33943.html?class=2;template=results;type=batting;view=innings Ajay Sharma - ODI innings-by-innings batting list] Statsguru, ESPNcricinfo He finished with 424 runs at a batting average of 20.19. Sharma also took 15 wickets using his left-arm spin with a best of 3/41 against Australia in October 1989.[http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65927.html India v Australia at Bangalore, 27 October 1989] ESPNcricinfo

Life ban

In 2000, aged 36, his career ended when he received a life ban from cricket after he was implicated in a match-fixing scandal.{{cite web|url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/33943.html|title=Ajay Sharma|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/86235.html|title=Padiham withdraw Sharma contract|publisher=}}

In September 2014, Sharma was cleared from all charges related to match-fixing by Delhi district court and has asked the BCCI to allow him to take part in the board's activities and those of its associates.{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/778261.html|title=Ajay Sharma cleared in match-fixing case|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/139699.html|title=Remembering KP Bhaskar|publisher=}}

He retired from active cricket and is now invested in running multiple franchises of laundry and dry-cleaning brand UClean in Delhi NCR and Punjab.