C.P.S. Chauhan Biography

C.P.S. Chauhan is a former Indian cricketer and presently a Member of Parliament. Chauhan is regarded amongst the finest opening batsman in Indian cricket. His full name is Chetandra Pratap Singh Chauhan and he was born on 21st July, 1947 in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India. Chetan’s father was an army officer who, due to his transfer, moved with his family to Poona in Maharashtra.

There, Chauhan pursued his bachelor’s degree at Wadia College in Poona, and went on to follow up on his strong interest in cricket, being coached by former Maharashtra player, Kamal Bhandarkar. Thus began Chauhan’s journey into cricket. The major teams that C.P.S. Chauhan represented are India, Delhi and Maharashtra.

Chetan Pratap Singh Chauhan was a dashing right-hand opening batsman whose impenetrable defence and ability to get behind the line of the ball made him a much-feared batsman. He also bowled right-arm offbreak.

Chauhan’s first stint at cricket was when he represented Poona University in the Rohinton Baria Trophy (1966-67), moving on to represent the West Zone in the inter-zonal Vizzy Trophy and then being selected into the Maharashtra team, after notable performances in the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy.

His fabulous domestic cricket run then earned him a place in the Indian squad in 1969/70. Since then, Chetan Chauhan has shone for India in numerous Tests matches during the 70s and early 80s. He along with partner, Sunil Gavaskar, became the most formidable opening pair in Indian Test cricket history.

C.P.S. Chauhan made his Test debut against New Zealand at Mumbai in September 1969, moving on to play Australia in the same season, after which he was dropped follwing a dismal performance there.

In between, Chauhan had a blazing Ranji season (1972/73) and was recalled to the national squad to play against England. However, Chetan Chauhan’s most dazzling performances came in the tour of Australia (1977/78), where he made a brilliant comeback.

The magnificent Gavaskar-Chauhan partnership shone at The Oval in 1979 when they together compiled 213 runs against England, breaking the earlier record of Merchant and Mushtaq Ali who made 203 runs at Old Trafford in 1936.

Overall, Chauhan has played 40 Tests for India, scoring 2084 total runs, he became the first player in Indian Test history to score more than 2000 runs without a single hundred. Chauhan has also played in 7 ODI’s scoring 153 runs.

After being dropped from Tests altogether, Chauhan continued his game at the domestic level. After retirement from cricket, C.P.S. Chauhan became a selector from North Zone, slowly shifting to a career change by entering Indian politics, when he was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh on a BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) ticket.

He has also been awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award in 1981.