Paul Chandrashekar Valthaty (born 7 December 1983) 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 who played for

Kings XI Punjab The Punjab Kings, also known as PBKS, formerly known as Kings XI Punjab, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in New Chandigarh, Punjab, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by Mohit Burm ...

and

Rajasthan Royals The Rajasthan Royals, also known as RR, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Jaipur, Rajasthan, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 as one of the initial eight franchises, the team is owned by Manoj ...

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 ...

and for India in the 2002 ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup. He had to retire from the

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

after he suffered an eye injury. He is known for his knock of 120 runs in 63 balls against

Chennai Super Kings The Chennai Super Kings, also known as CSK, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of the eight debut franchises when the league was establ ...

. On 18 June 2023, Valthaty announces his retirement from first-class cricket.

Early years and personal life

Valthaty was born and raised in Borivali of

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 ...

. His family originally hails from the town of

Nandyal Nandyal, commonly called as Nandyala, is a city and the district headquarters of Nandyal district of the Indian state of the Andhra Pradesh. It is a Municipal corporation and the headquarters of Nandyal mandal in Nandyal revenue division. Dem ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. Valthaty was trained in the Dilip Vengsarkar academy in Mumbai. He was then recommended by Vengsarkar to the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) president Mr. Chamundeswarnath.

Career

Early domestic career

Valthaty had a nondescript career until pre 2002, after making his way up the age groups of Mumbai Cricket during the late 1990s. He made India's Under-19 squad for the 2002 World Cup in New Zealand with the likes of Irfan Pathan and Parthiv Patel. It was here where an injury to his eye in the game against Bangladesh halted his development. He wouldn’t break through into senior level cricket for almost seven years, and got just one opportunity for Mumbai, playing a single day for them in 2006. He wouldn’t sign for a major team until 2009, when Rajasthan Royals signed him, and he played some matches for the side. His performances earned him a place in Mumbai's Twenty20 side, and he played some great matches for them, which led to him signing for

in 2011.

Indian Premier League

Paul Valthaty was selected by Kings XI Punjab as a backup player for the more expensive international buys at a

player auction Player auction is a significant aspect of modern sports leagues, prominently observed in cricket and baseball, where teams bid to acquire the services of players for a specific tournament or season. The process involves a blend of strategy, fin ...

in January 2011. He was the opening batsman for

, and would have an outstanding game in the

2011 Indian Premier League The 2011 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 4 or the IPL 2011, was the fourth season of the Indian Premier League, the top Twenty20 cricket league in India. The tournament was hosted in India and the opening and closing ceremonies ...

against reigning champions

. Valthaty helped the

chase down a 189-run target with six wickets and five balls to spare at Mohali. He scored 120 runs, being the first hundred of

IPL 2011 The 2011 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 4 or the IPL 2011, was the fourth season of the Indian Premier League, the top Twenty20 cricket league in India. The tournament was hosted in India and the opening and closing ceremonies ...

season and 13th overall in the 21st century. It remains the 11th highest IPL score ever, after

Chris Gayle Christopher Henry Gayle (born 21 September 1979) is a Jamaican cricket team, Jamaican cricketer who has played international cricket for the West Indies cricket team, West Indies from 1999 to 2021. Nicknamed "The Universe Boss", Gayle is wide ...

's 175* & 128,

Brendon McCullum Brendon Barrie McCullum (born 27 September 1981) is a former New Zealand cricketer, and the current head coach of the England men's cricket team in all formats. Representing New Zealand, he captained the team in all formats. McCullum was renow ...

's 158*,

AB de Villiers Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a South African former international cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest batters of his generation. de Villiers was named as the ODI Player of the Year three times during h ...

's 133*,129*,

Quinton de Kock Quinton de Kock (born 17 December 1992) is a South African international cricketer and former captain of the Proteas in all three formats. He currently plays for Titans at the domestic level and for South Africa in T20Is. He was named the Cri ...

's 140*, K. L. Rahul's 132*,

Murali Vijay Murali Vijay (born 1 April 1984) is a former Indian international cricketer. He was a right-handed opening batter and an occasional right-arm off break bowler. He has represented the Indian cricket team and played for Tamil Nadu in domestic f ...

's 127,

Rishabh Pant Rishabh Pant (; born 4 October 1997) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team as a wicket-keeper batter. He is currently the vice captain of Indian cricket team in the Test format. He captains and plays for th ...

's 128* and

Virender Sehwag Virender Sehwag (, born 20 October 1978) is a former Indian cricketer who represented India from 1999 to 2013. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive openers and one of the greatest batsmen of his era, he played for Delhi Capitals in I ...

's 122. It is also the highest individual score by a batsman in IPL history at the

Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium The I. S. Bindra Punjab Cricket Association Stadium is a cricket ground located in Mohali, Punjab, India. It is commonly referred to as the Mohali Stadium. The stadium is home to the Punjab cricket team and formerly the IPL franchise Punjab Kin ...

. In his next game he scored 75 from 47 deliveries, hitting 5 sixes and 8 fours after achieving the best bowling figures for any Kings XI Punjab bowler with 4 for 29. His great performance resulted in success for the Kings XI, and they won the match. He played in the next match, and scored 46 from only 31 deliveries with three classic sixes. With his initial blitzkrieg, the team crossed the fifty in just three overs, a record in IPL history which would later be broken by the

Royal Challengers Bangalore The Royal Challengers Bengaluru, formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore, also known as RCB, are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 ...

in their second match against the

Kochi Tuskers Kerala Kochi Tuskers Kerala is a now defunct franchise cricket team that played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) representing the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. The team was one of two new franchises added to the IPL for the 2011 season, alongside ...

in the same season. He was retained by

Kings Xi Punjab The Punjab Kings, also known as PBKS, formerly known as Kings XI Punjab, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in New Chandigarh, Punjab, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by Mohit Burm ...

for the following two seasons, however, he didn’t perform as well, and slowly faded away from the scene.

Coaching career

Now he is running a cricket academy named a
Home Ground Cricket Academy
in Thakur Village,

Kandivali Kandivli (Pronunciation: aːn̪d̪iʋəliː formerly Khandolee is a suburb in the north of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and has a large Marathi, Koli population followed by others. British records highlight that the area names that end with "v ...

East,

Career with Air India

Following his departure from IPL stardom, he began to play for his then-employers

Air India Air India is the flag carrier of India with its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and secondary hubs at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, alo ...

. He was given the job on a sports quota, and was only required to practice and play games after agreeing the terms with his employers.

Mumbai T20 League

In March 2018, Mumbai South Central acquired Paul Valthaty for ₹50,000, in the six-franchise Mumbai T20 League. He was placed under the Developmental Players bracket and therefore was only entitled to receive the minimum salary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valthaty, Paul Indian cricketers 1983 births Living people People from Kurnool district Mumbai cricketers Himachal Pradesh cricketers India Blue cricketers Rajasthan Royals cricketers 21st-century Indian sportsmen Punjab Kings cricketers