Pankaj Roy (; 31 May 1928 – 4 February 2001) was an Indian

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and former national cricket team captain. He was right-handed opening

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

, he is best known for establishing the world record opening

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...

of 413 runs, together with

Vinoo Mankad Mulvantrai Himmatlal "Vinoo" Mankad (; 12 April 1917 – 21 August 1978) was an Indian cricketer who appeared in 44 Test matches for India between 1946 and 1959. He was best known for his world record setting opening partnership of 413 runs wi ...

, against

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Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. The record stood until 2008. In 2000, he was appointed as the Sheriff of Kolkata. He has been honoured with the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

. His nephew Ambar Roy and son

Pranab Roy Pranab Roy (born 10 February 1963) is a former Indian cricketer who played two Test matches for India. Early life He received his early education at Rama Chandra School in Kolkata. His father Pankaj Roy taught him cricket when he was 5 yea ...

also played Test cricket for India. He was a student of

Vidyasagar College Vidyasagar College (Bengali: বিদ্যাসাগর কলেজ) is a state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta, located in North Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The college offers both post-gradu ...

First-class career

Roy played domestic cricket in India for the

Bengal cricket team The Bengal cricket team represents the Indian state of West Bengal in domestic first-class cricket. It is considered Eastern India's strongest cricket team. The team plays its home matches at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Bengal has wo ...

. He scored a century on his first-class debut in 1946–47 and went on to score 33 hundreds, scoring a total of 11868 first class runs at 42.38.

Test career

When England toured India in 1951, Roy was selected for the Indian squad and made his Test debut at Delhi. Despite making just 12 in his debut innings he scored 2 centuries in the series. The following summer he toured England and had a contrasting series, making 5 ducks in his 7 innings, including

Frank Tyson Frank Holmes Tyson (6 June 1930 – 27 September 2015) was an England international cricketer of the 1950s, who also worked as a schoolmaster, journalist, cricket coach and cricket commentator after emigrating to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "T ...

's debut first class wicket. This tally included a pair at

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. He was among the four victims (others being

Datta Gaekwad Dattajirao Krishnarao Gaekwad (born 27 October 1928), known as Datta Gaekwad, is a former Indian cricketer. He appeared in 11 Test matches, toured England in 1952 and 1959 and West Indies in 1952–53. He captained the Indian team in the 1959 ...

Vijay Manjrekar Vijay Laxman Manjrekar (26 September 1931 – 18 October 1983) was an Indian cricketer who played 55 Tests. He represented several teams (Andhra, Bengal, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh) in his first-class career. A small man, h ...

and

Madhav Mantri Madhavi Krishnaji Mantri (1 September 1921 – 23 May 2014) was an Indian cricketer who played in four Test matches between 1951 and 1955. Born in Nasik, Maharashtra, he was a right-handed opening batsman and specialist wicket-keeper who repr ...

) in India's miserable 0–4 start in the second innings of the Headingley Test of 1952 with Fred Trueman playing havoc. He would hit five

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

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for

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, with a top score of 173. He captained India in a Test match in England in 1959, which India lost.

References

External links

*
"Extracting history from myth"
by

Suresh Menon Suresh Menon (born 10 January 1967) is an Indian actor, comedian and television personality. Career Menon has appeared in movies including Grand Masti, ''Phir Hera Pheri'', '' Partner'', ''Fool N Final'', '' Krazzy 4'', '' Deewane Huye Pagal' ...

1928 births 2001 deaths Bengali cricketers India Test cricket captains India Test cricketers Indian cricketers East Zone cricketers Bengal cricketers Mumbai cricketers Indian Universities cricketers Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports Cricketers from Kolkata Sheriffs of Kolkata {{India-cricket-bio-1920s-stub