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

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who played in 43 test matches, including once as captain. He was a right-handed opening

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, perhaps best known for establishing the world record opening

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Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

of 413 runs, together with Vinoo Mankad, against

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. The record stood until 2008. Roy played for Bengal in domestic matches. In 2000, he was appointed as the

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. He has been honoured with the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

. His nephew Ambar Roy and son Pranab Roy also played Test cricket for India. He was a student of Vidyasagar College. In 2016, he was posthumously awarded the C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honour conferred by BCCI on a former player.

First-class career

Roy played domestic cricket in India for the Bengal cricket team. 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'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, Vijay Manjrekar and Madhav Mantri) 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

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centuries for

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

References

Cited sources Further reading *

External links

*
"Extracting history from myth"
by Suresh Menon 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