Laxmi Ratan Shukla (; born 6 May 1981) is a former Indian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and politician. He played as a right-handed middle-order batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler for the

Bengal cricket team The Bengal cricket team is an Indian domestic cricket team representing the state of West Bengal. The team based in Kolkata. It is administered by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and participate in tournaments organized by the Board ...

. He was also a player for

Kolkata Knight Riders The Kolkata Knight Riders, also known as KKR, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Kolkata, West Bengal, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla, and ...

and

Delhi Daredevils The Delhi Capitals, formerly the Delhi Daredevils, also known as DC, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Delhi that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by GMR Group and JSW Sports. Its home groun ...

in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

. He was a member of the legislative assembly of West Bengal representing the

Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the Federated state, state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a Lis ...

. He resigned from the ministry on 5 January 2021.

Early life

Shukla was born in

Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, and did his schooling at Shree Hanumaan Jute Mill Hindi High School and the Don Bosco High & Technical School, Liluah. He made his first-class debut in the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

during the 1997–98 season, and was selected by India for the

1998 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 1998 MTN ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament played in South Africa from 11 January to 1 February 1998. Sponsored by the MTN Group, it was the second edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cu ...

. He was a part of the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

team in the Wills Trophy, in which they got to the semi-final. In 2000 he was picked for the National Cricket Academy. On 30 December 2015 he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

International career

Because of impressive performances at the domestic level, Shukla received a national call in 1999. He was dropped in favour of Ashish Nehra in the first Test he was selected to play, against Sri Lanka at Colombo in the Asian Test Championship, even after his name appeared in the 11-member squad flashed on the electronic scoreboard at the ground. He made his ODI debut against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

on 22 March 1999 in

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

. He played his last ODI against

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

in 1999. In fact he did not get further chances after that season as a bowler because other young pace bowlers like

Zaheer Khan Zaheer Khan (born 8 October 1978) (''Zaheer's official records say he was born in Shrirampur, Maharashtra on October 7. But as it turns out, his actual birth date is October 8, 1978'') is an Indian former professional cricketer who played all f ...

and

Ashish Nehra Ashish Nehra (; born 29 April 1979) is an Indian cricket coach and former cricketer who played in all formats of the game. Nehra announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in late 2017, with the Twenty20 International match against Ne ...

had entered and established their places in the Indian Senior team, upon the impressive performances. Although Shukla was renowned for his skills as an all rounder, selectors gave the chances for the players like Sanjay Bangar,

Hrishikesh Kanitkar Hrishikesh Hemant Kanitkar (; born 14 November 1974) is a former Indian cricketer, who briefly played Tests and ODIs. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offbreak bowler. When he retired in 2015, he was one of only three batsmen to hav ...

and eventually

Irfan Pathan Irfan Pathan (; born 27 October 1984) is an Indian cricket commentator, analyst and former player. He was a bowling all-rounder and member of the Indian cricket team that won the inaugural 2007 ICC Twenty20 World Cup and 2013 ICC Champion ...

pushing him down the pecking order.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2012

He was by far the brightest performer as

(captained by

Sourav Ganguly Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; natively spelled as Gangopadhyay; born 8 July 1972), also known as Dada (meaning ''"elder brother"'' in Bengali language, Bengali), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer. He is popularly called the ...

) won its first

Vijay Hazare Trophy The Vijay Hazare Trophy (officially known as the IDFC First Bank Vijay Hazare Trophy for sponsorship reasons), is an annual List A Cricket competition organised by the BCCI. The Indian States and union territories teams take part in the Ranji ...

in 2012. In the group stage match against

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

Eden Gardens Eden Gardens is an international cricket stadium in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Established in 1864, it is the oldest and second-largest cricket stadium in India and third-largest in the world. The stadium currently has a capacity of 68,000. ...

, he scored 151* from 96 balls (16 fours, 8 sixes) to chase down Jharkhand's score of 280/6 in just 38.1 overs. In the next match against

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

at the Jadavpur University Sports Complex, after being bowled out to only 198 in 49 overs, he took 4/37 (and Sanjib Sanyal took 4/33 from his 8 overs) to bowl out

for just 168 in 37.4 overs. In the quarter-final, he took 2/37 against

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. He took the wicket of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

's highest scorer

Mandeep Singh Mandeep Singh (born 18 December 1991) is an Indian cricketer. He plays for Punjab cricket team (India), Punjab in the top-flight of Indian cricket. Ahead of India's 2023-24 domestic season, he moved to Tripura cricket team, Tripura. A right-ha ...

(66) in the semifinal. In the final against

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

led by

Ajit Agarkar Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar (; born 4 December 1977) is a former Indian cricketer and commentator. He has been the current chairman of the BCCI selection committee since 4 July 2023. He has represented India in more than 200 international matche ...

, he took 4/38 (including openers

Wasim Jaffer Wasim Jaffer (born 16 February 1978) is an Indian retired professional cricketer. He was a right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right arm off-break bowler. In 2011 he became the highest run-scorer in Ranji Trophy cricket, surpassing ...

and

Ajinkya Rahane Ajinkya Rahane (born 6 June 1988) is an Indian cricketer and former Indian captain in all formats and former vice-captain of the Indian team in Test cricket, who has played for Indian cricket team in all formats as a batsman. He currently capta ...

) to bowl out Mumbai for only 248, and then chased it down with a 107* off 83 ball-partnership with Anustup Majumdar. He scored 106* from 90 balls, and Anustup Majumdar scored 50* from 45 balls to win the

with 23 balls to spare.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2013

Following his success as an all rounder in the

2012, he was made the captain of

in the

2013. He started the tournament brilliantly, taking 5/34 and thus restricting

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

to only 175, and winning the match by 11 runs.

Political career

He joined

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a breakaway faction f ...

in February 2016 before

2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in 2016 for 294 seats of the ''Vidhan Sabha'' in the Indian state of West Bengal. The All India Trinamool Congress under Mamata Banerjee won 211 seats, and thus was re-elected with an enhanced majority. ...

in presence of the party supremo and

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Mamata Banerjee Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 2 ...

at a party general council meeting in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. He became candidate from Howrah Uttar constituency. He won the seat by defeating Santosh Kumar Pathak of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. He became the minister of State Sports and Youth Services in

's second government. Later, he was also made the president of Howrah Sadar district committee of

. On 5 January 2021, he resigned as the Minister of State for Youth Services and Sports along with the aforementioned district party post. While the opposition parties such as

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

slammed the

for the ministers losing faith in her governance, BJP spokesperson and MLA Samik Bhattacharya even invited Laxmi to join his party, to which the latter, however, did not respond.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shukla, Laxmi 1981 births Trinamool Congress politicians from West Bengal Bengal cricketers Cricketers from West Bengal Don Bosco schools alumni East Zone cricketers Indian cricketers India Green cricketers India One Day International cricketers Indian sportsperson-politicians Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers 21st-century Indian sportsmen Living people People from Howrah State cabinet ministers of West Bengal Delhi Capitals cricketers West Bengal MLAs 2016–2021