May 31, 1926 & 1928.
Probir Sen and Pankaj Roy, two pioneers of Bengal cricket were born just two years apart (1926 and 1928) in Comilla district (now in Bangladesh) and Kumartuli in Calcutta respectively.
Probir 'Khokon' Sen (1926-1970)
Probir Sen was the first Bengali cricketer to represent India in Tests. His name has gone through at least two stages of evolution. The name given to him by his parents was "Probir", but due to his small physique (5 feet 6 inches in height), this right-handed wicket-keeper batsman was known as 'Khokon' in the Bengal cricket circle.
In the 12 Tests that India played before his debut, six people stood behind the wicket. But then he played 14 Tests as the team's number one wicketkeeper. This proves just how consistent he was as a wicketkeeper. That is why he is called the 'first great wicketkeeper' of Indian cricket.
Apart from catching 20 catches in 14 Test matches, Probir also effected 11 stumpings. He had a record of 36 stumpings and 108 catches in first-class cricket. He also did quite well in domestic cricket with the bat. He scored 2,580 runs at an average of 23.24 with three centuries. But he could not do justice to his name at international level, he scored only 165 runs at an average of 11.78.
He made his first-class cricket debut in 1943 at the age of just 17. Later he played 82 first class matches. He made his debut for Bengal in a Ranji Trophy match against Bihar. He scored 13 and 2 runs in two innings in that match at Eden Gardens. He also made three dismissals as wicketkeepers.
His next match was also at home ground. This time the opponent was Holkar. After getting promotion in the batting order, he batted one-down and this time he played a brilliant innings of 142 runs in 225 minutes against CK Nayudu, Hiralal, Mushtaq Ali.
By the time India returned to international cricket at the end of World War II, Probir had gained three years of experience in domestic cricket. Even then, when India toured England in 1947, he was not in that team. However, he was selected to tour Australia in the 1947-48 season but his chances of playing a Test match for the national team were slim. Because there were wicketkeepers like Jenni Irani in the team.
But after India's miserable defeat in the first match at the Gabba, and a draw in the second match in Sydney, Probir was brought into the squad in place of Irani in the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
However, Probir made a hype before his debut in the national team. In the tour match against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval, he stumped Sir Don Bradman off Vinoo Mankad. He was the only Indian wicket-keeper to stump Don Bradman.
However, the whole tour seemed to be a nightmare for Probir. He scored only 33 runs in six innings at an average of 5.60. However, as a wicketkeeper, he was admired by the Australian critics. Bert Oldfield was so impressed with Prabir's wicketkeeping that he even gifted him a pair of gloves.
However, after an average series against the West Indies at home, he was dropped from the team.
In the 1950-51 season, he played a career-best 168-run innings against Bihar. The ninth wicket partnership of 231 runs with Jyotish Mitter was the 11th best ninth wicket partnership in first-class cricket, and still the best ninth wicket partnership for Bengal.
Since then, Probir has been in and out of the national team. He was called up for the match against England at Eden Gardens, but was dropped again in the next match at Green Park in Kanpur. He was called up to the team again in the last Test at Chepauk.
Probir showed his best in that test. In the first innings, he stumped Tom Graveney, Doland Carr, Malcolm Hilton and Brian Statham - all off Vinoo Mankad. He thus went on to become the second wicketkeeper in history to make four stumpings in an innings. The other wicketkeeper was Oldfield. The only wicketkeeper to have five stumpings in an innings was Kiran More (in 1998, against the West Indies).
Probir also stumped Hilton in the second innings off Mankad, making him the first wicketkeeper to make five stumpings in a Test. Kiran More later made six stumpings in a match against West Indies. Sen won the 'Indian Cricketer of the Year' award in 1952 for this outstanding performance.
Probir was also selected for the 1952 tour of England. He also played in the Old Trafford Test, in which India were all out for 58 and 82 on the same day. Sen also played at The Oval after losing the first two Tests at Headingley and Lord's. But he failed to perform with the bat. The only exception was the tour match against Glamorgan, where he played an unbeaten innings of 75 runs.
The wicketkeeper's place in the Indian team has become more competitive since Nana Joshi's arrival. However, the selectors relied on Probir for the first match against Pakistan in Kotla. As usual, he did well in that match as a wicketkeeper. But this match was memorable for another reason for him. He scored his Career-best 25 runs in this match. He also added 34 runs for the ninth wicket with Hemu Adhikari. But he was dropped from the team and the selectors brought back Prabir for the last match at Eden Gardens.
The match ended in a draw. Probir scored 13 runs with the bat and took a catch and made a stumping off Gulabrai Ramchand. And that's it. It was the end of his Test career.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Probir also had seven first-class wickets, including a hat-trick, next to his name. Yes, you read it right. He played an innings of 127 runs against Odisha in 1953. But after two seasons on the same field, he had a remarkable achievement with the ball in hand against the same opponent.
Odisha were all out for 58 and 126 in reply to Bengal's 329 for four. But this match ended strangely. Sen had Ram Sastry stumped, and Tamayya Sastri and Nimal Padhi bowled off consecutive deliveries. He finished with figures of 3.4-1-4-3, and became the second Bengal bowler to take a First-Class hat-trick, after TC Longfield.
However, there is some controversy over Probir's achievement. Many claim that he was also a wicketkeeper in the beginning of that match. Then he took off his gloves and picked up a hat-trick with the ball. In that case, he also did wicketkeeping in the same match, and also did a hat trick with the ball. But according to most of the people, Gopal Chakraborty, who made his debut in that match, has been wicketkeeping from the beginning. Probir never stood behind the wicket in the whole match. In that case, that feat remains with Alan Smith, who would perform this for Warwickshire against Essex at Clacton-on-Sea in 1965.
Probir continued to play First-Class cricket till 1957-58. Playing for Past XI against Present XI in his final season, Sen scored 18 and 39, and more importantly, took 2 catches and made 6 stumpings. Two weeks later he played his last First-Class match against Services, scoring 57 but going without a dismissal.
He remained active in club cricket in Calcutta throughout the 1960s, and suddenly passed away before his 44th birthday from a stroke after playing a match on January 27, 1970. The P Sen Memorial Trophy remains the most glamorous tournament of Kolkata Club Cricket.
Pankaj Roy (1928-2001)
Pankaj Roy, 2 years younger than Prabir Sen, was much more successful. He scored a century against Uttar Prades On his Ranji trophy debut in 1945. He scored 11,868 runs at 42.38 with 33 centuries, including a double-century (202*) and took 21 wickets in 185 first-class matches. He got a chance to play for All India University against West Indies in 1948 and scored 8 at No. 11. Earlier, he scored a century for the Bengal Governor's team against West Indies and it was the first century by a Bengali in an international match.
He made his international debut in Delhi in 1951 during England's tour of India. He was dismissed for just 12 runs in the first match but had two centuries in that series. He scored 2442 runs at 32.56 including 5 hundreds and 9 fifties in 43 matches for India, highest 173 and took a wicket with the ball.
He captained India in a Test match in England in 1959, which India lost. However, the ensured captaincy was later taken away from him.
However, it is not possible to measure Pankaj Roy with mere stats. To appreciate his greatness, one has to understand the mental strength of him, when he scored a seven-hour 90 in front of Roy Gilchrist or the ability to score a century in both innings against one of the best bowling line-ups of the time (when he spent the previous night with a relative admitted in the hospital).
Prabir Sen or Pankaj Roy is not only the first Bengali Test cricketer or the first Bengali Test captain for Bengal Cricket fans. They are also the first representatives of Bengalis who marked their existence on the stage of Indian and world cricket.
✍️ Subham Dey
Comments
Post a Comment