Pananmal Punjabi Explained

Pananmal Punjabi
Full Name:Pananmal Hotchand Punjabi
Birth Date:20 September 1921
Birth Place:Karachi, British India
Death Place:Mumbai, India
Batting:Right-handed
Columns:2
Column1:Test
Matches1:5
Runs1:164
Bat Avg1:16.40
100S/50S1:0/0
Top Score1:33
Deliveries1:
Wickets1:
Bowl Avg1:
Fivefor1:
Tenfor1:
Best Bowling1:
Catches/Stumpings1:5/–
Column2:First-class
Matches2:32
Runs2:1,953
Bat Avg2:38.29
100S/50S2:6/5
Top Score2:224*
Deliveries2:132
Wickets2:2
Bowl Avg2:50.00
Fivefor2:0
Tenfor2:0
Best Bowling2:1/10
Catches/Stumpings2:16/–
International:true
Country:India
Testcap:71
Testdebutagainst:Pakistan
Testdebutdate:1 January
Testdebutyear:1955
Lasttestdate:26 February
Lasttestagainst:Pakistan
Lasttestyear:1955
Source:http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/32371.html CricInfo
Date:20 November
Year:2022

Pananmal Hotchand Punjabi (20 September 1921  - 4 October 2011) was an Indian cricketer who played in five Test matches in 1955.[1]

A right-handed opening batsman, Punjabi had a long but somewhat intermittent first-class cricket career, starting with two matches for Sind before partition and resuming more regularly from 1951 for Gujarat. In the 1953–54 season, he scored three centuries in three matches and was then picked for the tour to Pakistan the following season, 1954–55. He opened the batting in all five Tests with Pankaj Roy, and scored 164 runs, the fourth highest aggregate for the team. But his highest was only 33 and the series consisted largely of defensive cricket with all Tests drawn, the first time this had happened in a five-match series.

He played on in Indian domestic cricket until 1959–60, scoring his highest score, an undefeated 224, in his penultimate game, but was never selected again for Test cricket. Despite his name, Punjabi came from Karachi, spoke Sindhi, represented Gujarat for most of his first class career, and was employed as a supervisor in Burmah Shell.[2]

Punjabi died in 2011 but his death was noticed in cricketing circles only in 2014.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pananmal Punjabi . CricketArchive . 2011-09-23.
  2. Richard Cashman, Patrons, Players and the Crowd., Orient Longman (1980)
  3. https://www.cricketcountry.com/news/deepak-shodhan-not-pananmal-punjabi-is-the-oldest-living-indian-test-cricketer-141527 Deepak Shodhan, not Pananmal Punjabi is the oldest living Indian Test cricketer, Cricketcountry, 25 May 2014