Pankaj Roy - Courage and determination were his hallmarks
Pankaj Roy, who passed away in Kolkata in the early hours of Sunday, was the foremost Indian opening batsman throughout the fifties
Partab Ramchand
04-Feb-2001
Pankaj Roy, who passed away in Kolkata in the early hours of Sunday,
was the foremost Indian opening batsman throughout the fifties. The
best tribute to him would be to point out that his tally of runs was
the best for a specialist opener till a certain Sunil Manohar Gavaskar
came along.
Adjectives like stylish or elegant were hardly used to describe Roy's
batting. The qualities associated with him were generally dedication,
determination and concentration. A short, rather stocky figure, Roy
had a solid defence but he could also attack when the need arose,
being particularly forceful off the back foot. His famous first wicket
partnership of 413 runs with Vinoo Mankad - still a Test record - was
the jewel in his crown. But there were many trinkets along the way
too.
Roy's obdurate qualities were just what Indian cricket required during
the time he opened the innings, for the batting was generally weak. As
he came on the scene, players like Vijay Merchant, Mushtaq Ali, Lala
Amarnath and Vijay Hazare were on the way out. It was impossible to
replace these greats overnight and the Indian batting in the fifties
was generally brittle. The opening slot particularly had gaping holes.
Roy's stubborn batting, built on a rock solid defence, helped at least
to fill these holes in part.
Roy was one of those who lived up to the early promise he held out. By
scoring a century on debut in the Ranji Trophy in 1946-47, by tall
scores in the inter-university matches and by hitting an unbeaten
century against the strong West Indian team of 1948-49 while still at
college, Roy made it known very early that here was an uncommonly
gifted batsman. And yet in his first series, he exceeded even the
highest expectations. Against England in 1951-52, he scored 140 in his
second Test and followed this up with 111 in the final triumphant Test
at Madras. Two centuries in his maiden series saw Roy hailed as the
new boy wonder of Indian cricket. He went on the 1952 tour of England
with his confidence level on a high but came from the trip with his
technique and temperament being questioned. On that disastrous tour,
Roy was one of the main failures. In seven Test innings, he got five
ducks, four of them in a row.
Shrugging off the shocking run, Roy rediscovered his touch in the West
Indies in 1953, proof of this being cemented with his double effort of
85 and 150 in the final Test at Kingston. With Vijay Manjrekar, he
added 237 runs for the second wicket, an Indian record that stood for
almost 26 years.
No one questioned Roy's technique and temperament after that. Sure,
the cynics pointed out certain flaws in his batting especially against
fast bowling. But runs are the final result that no one can argue
against and Roy kept scoring them consistently. After all, no one can
finish with a tally of 2442 runs from 43 Tests at an average of 32.56
with five hundreds if he is lacking in technique and temperament.
There were doubts whether wearing spectacles - which he resorted to in
the mid-fifties - would affect Roy's batting. It did not in any
serious manner and he played with reasonable success. He answered
charges that he was vulnerable to fast bowling by scoring 334 runs in
the series against West Indies in 1958-59, in the face of a barrage of
bumpers and beamers from Wesley Hall and Roy Gilchrist. Whatever the
cynics might have said about his technical limitations, even they did
not question Roy's courage. For example in the first Test at Bombay,
he batted 445 minutes for 90 in an effective rearguard action.
On his second tour of England in 1959, Roy did better both in the
Tests and first class games. Still, it was not a record in keeping
with his reputation of one of the side's most experienced batsmen. In
first class matches he scored 1207 runs at an average of 28.73. In the
Tests he started off well by top scoring with 54 and 49 in a losing
cause in the first game. Thereafter however memories of 1952 haunted
him and in eight subsequent innings he got only 76 runs. Back home he
was more successful against Australia scoring 263 runs including a
heroic 99 in India's defeat at New Delhi. But the fact that he fell
five times in the series to the left arm swing of Alan Davidson did
seem to indicate some technical deficiency against the fast, moving
ball.
Yet in 1960, Roy was still where he was at the start of the previous
decade - more or less entrenched as India's opening batsman. No one
could have guessed that the end of his career was round the corner.
But this did come about suddenly when after scoring 23 in the first
Test against Pakistan in 1960-61 he was dropped - never to be
considered again. Determined to make a comeback Roy made a packet of
runs in the Ranji and Duleep Trophy competitions to show that he still
had something to offer Indian cricket. But he never got a look-in
again and his heroics were limited to playing for Bengal for whom he
remained a tower of strength. His tally of 5149 runs at an average of
66 with 21 hundreds still makes for impressive reading.
In later years, Roy served on the national selection committee,
watched his nephew Ambar and son Pranab play for India and became one
of Kolkata's prominent citizens including the Sheriff of the city. But
in a crowded, eventful panorama, there is little doubt that Roy in
retirement, would have frequently remembered Indian cricket's proudest
statistical achievement - of which he was a partner.