CricketArchive

Cult hero Panesar wants Ashes rise
by CricketArchive staff reporter


Player:MS Panesar, AF Giles
Event:England in Australia 2006/07

DateLine: 19th November 2006

 

If any player in England's Ashes squad can put the furore surrounding alleged racist comments behind him, it's Monty Panesar. The left-arm spinner, who has made an impressive start to his Test career since making his debut in March, was reportedly called a "stupid Indian" by a spectator during England's recent tour match against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

 

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland waded into the row Friday by saying he didn't think the comments were racist while British sports minister Richard Caborn called for International Cricket Council action.

 

Panesar, the first Sikh to play for England, just kept his head down. That would have come as no surprise to those who have followed the career of the 24-year-old Northamptonshire cricketer who has impressed legendary India left-arm spinner Bishen Bedi, himself a player with the county in the 1970s.

 

Born in Luton, north of London, Panesar cuts a quietly determined figure both on and off the field. Not for him the path of fitting in just for the sake of appearances. Instead he retained the very visible symbols of his religion such as the patkha head covering and the full beard. His single-mindedness also extends to his cricket, Panesar's insatiable thirst for knowledge having impressed all those who've worked with him.

 

"He wanted to play Test match cricket so badly that nothing was going to get in the way," said Australia wicket-keeping great Rodney Marsh, who came to know Panesar when he was in charge of England's academy. "He's a typical Indian, just absolutely in love with the game of cricket."

 

So being sledged by Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath as "soft" for consulting a sports psychologist was something Panesar took as a compliment. "They (the Australians) at least have heard of me and I'm a thought in their mind, which is very flattering," he said. "It sounds like a cliche, but I want to keep doing the basics well. I don't mind the spotlight. It doesn't really affect me."

 

Indeed the only time Panesar's admirable level-headedness seems to disappear is when he takes a wicket, a sight first seen on a Test ground during his debut in Nagpur when he dismissed Indian star Sachin Tendulkar. His celebrations when he takes a wicket resembles a hyper-active puppet whose strings have just been cut. Then there was Panesar's third Test in Mumbai when he dropped a steepling catch at long-off from Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But a few balls later Dhoni offered up a similar chance and this time he held on. So began Panesar's unlikely elevation to cult hero status. Every time he touched the ball in the field during the last English season, ironic shouts would ring round the ground.

 

But soon there were cheers for his bowling, especially at Old Trafford in July where he took five for 72 against Pakistan.

 

Question marks do remain about his fielding and batting. But no one in the England side works harder at all aspects of his game. His fielding is certainly less of a joke than it was and, batting at No 11, Panesar has already helped see through a couple of team-mates to Test hundreds. Unusually for an English spinner, Panesar has combined wicket-taking with economy. His 32 Test wickets to date have included such fine batsmen as Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara (twice), Sanath Jayasuriya, Mohammad Yousuf (three times), Younis Khan (twice) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (three times). And yet his economy rate has been a mere 2.58 runs per over.

 

During the Pakistan series, it seemed England coach Duncan Fletcher was more interested in talking about what Panesar couldn't do than what he could. Yet the fact Panesar is playing in the ongoing tour match against South Australia suggests he is in line for an appearance in the first Test at the expense of the supposedly more containing Ashley Giles.

LATEST SCORES

| Privacy Policy | FAQs | Contact |
Copyright © 2003-2024 CricketArchive