Biography Monty Panesar
Mudhsuden Singh Panesar (born 25 April 1982 in Luton, Bedfordshire), popularly known as Monty Panesar, is an English cricketer. An attacking left-arm spinner with a classical action, Panesar plays Test cricket for England and county cricket for Northamptonshire. Born to Indian Punjabi parents, he is the first Sikh to represent a nation other than India in Test cricket. Panesar sports a trademark black patka (a smaller version of the full Sikh turban) while playing and in cricket training. He is a crowd favourite in England, and many English fans have worn patkas and beards while watching Panesar play.
Background
Panesar is a devout Sikh. His father, Paramjeet Singh Panesar, who moved to England in 1979, is a builder. His mother is Gursharan Kaur. Panesar has a younger brother, Isher Singh Panesar, and sister, Charanjit Kaur Panesar. His family lives in Luton.
Panesar played a lot of cricket while at Stopsley High School before being selected for the England Under-19 team and making his first-class debut in 2001 at the age of 19. Originally a fast bowler, he shifted to spin at around sixteen following advice from Northamptonshire. His appearances over the next few years were limited, partly because of his commitment as a full-time student at Loughborough University. After graduating, he became a more important member of the team and had a fine season in 2005, taking 46 County Championship wickets at an average of just 21.54.
Cricketing ability
Panesar is regarded as a bright prospect by some commentators that have singled him out for high praise, including former England spinner John Emburey, who said of Panesar: "I think from what I have seen in the few Test matches he has played both in the winter and at home he looks already probably one of the best spinners we have had for 25 or 30 years, which is saying something." [1] Further praise came from England head coach Duncan Fletcher, who described Panesar as "the best finger spinner in the world."
Bowling Monty Panesar
Panesar's current bowling average in his brief career, which hovers around the 30 mark, compares well to the world's best established finger-spinners such as Harbhajan Singh, Nicky Boje and Daniel Vettori.
Panesar showed he had ability to take Test wickets in his very first Test match in Nagpur, India, where he took the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. He also bowled Mohammad Kaif. In the 2006 Test Series against Sri Lanka, Panesar claimed his first five wicket haul for 78 runs, in the third Test at Trent Bridge. Monty took 5 for 92 and 3 for 145 in the 3rd test match in Australia, in December 2006, despite England losing the match.
Batting - Monty Panesar
Panesar is not a batsman, but has shown signs of stubbornness in his short career, averaging just under nine runs per innings. An example was during Muttiah Muralitharan's onslaught at Trent Bridge in 2006. Murali was on 8-48 when Panesar came to the crease. Panesar scored 26 off 28 balls by employing the sweep shot and hit a six against Muralitharan which was greeted warmly by the crowd. In the 2006 Perth Ashes Test Match, Monty scored an unbeaten 16 runs, much to the delight of his supporters in the crowd. His partnership with Steve Harmison was the biggest of the innings.
For the fourth and fifth Ashes Tests Panesar was promoted to Number 10 in the batting order, and with Matthew Hoggard absent in the fifth Test he was used as Night-Watchman.
Fielding
Panesar's fielding has been the subject of much discussion. England coach Duncan Fletcher has even gone so far as to suggest that this could keep him out of the side in future if it does not improve. At the start of his Test career, this led to massive sardonic cheers from the crowd for completing even the simplest fielding tasks; his most memorable "misfield" was the dropping of a skier hit by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India's current wicketkeeper, during England's tour of the Asian subcontinent in 2005-2006, although he made up for it by holding a catch given by the same batsman two balls later. Many commentators believe that his fielding has since improved somewhat; he held an impressive catch in England's third Test match against Pakistan at Headingley in 2006.
Work ethic
Panesar is becoming renowned for being a fastidious worker, regularly leaving the practice ground after everyone else. According to Andrew Strauss, who has captained him in four Tests, Panesar "will be on the ground earlier than anyone, getting (assistant coach) Matthew Maynard to hit catches to him. He will then bowl through most of the net session, before staying out long after most of the guys are back in the comfort of the dressing room, working on his batting, learning new shots, and perfecting those he already has."[2]
The "left-handed" doosra
On August 11th 2006, Panesar had an interview with Neil McLeman of the UK Newspaper the Daily Mirror, in which he stated his intention to develop a left-handed version of the doosra:
"I am working on my version of the doosra - a ball which turns the other way - but we will just have to see what happens with it. As I gradually add things, it is one of my ambitions to be the best. It would be nice one day to be recognised as that"
Test selection
Due to his performances in 2005, many prominent figures[1][2][3] called for Panesar's inclusion in the English Test squad for the 2006 tour of India. For a place as back-up spinner to incumbent Ashley Giles he faced competition from left-armer Ian Blackwell and off-spinners Shaun Udal and Alex Loudon. It was suggested that his reputation for poor batting and fielding might hamper his chances of selection, but earlier in 2005 he had attended the Darren Lehmann Academy in Adelaide in order to address these issues. He was selected in January 2006 for the tour to India, and made his international debut in the first Test against India in Nagpur. He took three wickets, including India's ex and current captains, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. He also played in the second and third Test matches, in Mohali and Mumbai.
He has become a favourite for the England crowd due to his bowling, as well as his poor ability in the field, regularly getting cheers when he successfully fields and scores runs. His inadvertent comic reputation was secured when TMS commentator Henry Blofeld accidentally referred to him as Monty Python[3]. This status is heightened by his wicket taking celebration, which consists of him gambolling down the wicket, missing all high fives which are offered.
Notable performances
Panesar took 3 wickets in the first innings of the Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford, Manchester, on the 27th of July 2006. Panesar's wicket-taking was overshadowed by Steve Harmison who took a six wicket haul to get Pakistan all out for 119 in the 1st innings. However, Panesar took 5-72 in the second innings, and Harmison 5-57. The pair took 19 of the 20 Pakistani wickets in the match (the other being a run out) in an innings and 120 run victory. This was the first time two bowlers had taken all bowling wickets since Jim Laker's record match figures of 19 for 90. In the second innings Panesar took the wickets of five of the six specialist batsmen, including Inzamam-Ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.
In the first innings at Headingley Panesar showed a high level of endurance, bowling 47.4 overs, picking up 3 wickets including that of Inzamam-Ul-Haq, who overbalanced and dislodged the bails with his stomach. In the second innings Panesar picked up figures of 3 for 39. Panesar was given some credit for responding to criticism from England coach Duncan Fletcher [4]. Following his displays against Pakistan, Panesar has secured a spot on the 2006 Ashes Tour.
Despite his performances in the Test arena, Panesar was overlooked for the 30 man ODI squad for the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in India.
Ashes 2006
The likelihood of Panesar playing against Australia in the 2006-07 Ashes series led to media commentary by some Australian players, who indicated that they would take an aggressive approach towards him. Australian captain Ricky Ponting said, "We'll try to make some sort of impact on him early on, and we won't let him get on top. The way our left-handers, especially Justin Langer and Matty Hayden, play spin is to be fairly aggressive." However, he was also praised by Ponting. Ponting told the Sunday Age, "He (Panesar) didn't look like he was scared to throw the ball up a little bit and actually try and get you out. He's got good, subtle changes of pace and, watching the other night (against Pakistan), a really good arm ball as well."
Darren Lehmann said "He's probably a more attacking bowler than Giles was, and a wicket-taking option for them, more so than Giles was." Also stating on the possibility of Australian crowds targeting Panesar because of his poor fielding and batting, Lehmann stuck up for Panesar saying ."He should have no worries at all... He's a beautiful lad." [5]
It also emerged that Panesar had been seeing a sports psychologist and talking to former England left arm spinner Phil Tufnell, another English spinner who was poor at fielding, about the ribbing he is expecting to get from the Aussie crowds on the tour, and how to prepare himself mentally for the task.
Panesar was left out of the England team for the first two tests of the series, which led to a petiton being started by BBC Radio Five Live, calling out for his inclusion in the English team[6]. Panesar was eventually selected to play in the third test at the WACA in Perth. He finished the first innings with figures of 5 for 92 off 24 overs, with Justin Langer, Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist among his wickets, becoming the first english spin bowler to take five wickets in a test match at the WACA in Perth. He also performed respectably with the bat, finishing at 16 not out as part of England's best partnership in the innings.
He remained in the team for the rest of the series, finishing with a record of 10 wickets at an average of 37.90 and collecting a total of 35 runs.
Personal life
Panesar's parents migrated to England from India in the late 1970s. He has a large supportive family both in England and Punjab. 35 of his family members attended the Test against India at Mohali, Punjab in March 2006. He has uncut hair and a full length beard, which is a fundamental part of the Sikh identity and way of life. Panesar himself has been quoted as saying, “I follow Sikhism, and maybe I’ve channelled the discipline that religion creates into my cricket. There’s discipline with any religion, and you can take it into a game or into anything else." (The Sunday Times, August 06, 2006 [7]). Away from cricket, he has a degree in computer science.[4]
Article Source: Wikipedia
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