Mankad – Pankaj Roy partnership stood for 52 years

By A.C. De Silva

Vinoo Mankad (born 12th April, 1917, died 21st August 1978): Was an Indian cricketer who is best known for his world record setting opening partnership of 413 runs, with Pankaj Roy, in 1956, a record that stood for 52 years.

An opening batsman and slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he played in 44 Tests for India, and made 2,109 runs at an average of 31.47 including five Test centuries with a top score of 231.

He also took 162 wickets at the average of 32.32, including eight five-wicket hauls.

He is one of the three cricketers to have batted in every position, from the first to the last, during his Test career.

Mankad’s best performance was against England at Lord’s in 1952. In the first innings he top-scored with 72. During England’s first innings, he bowled 73 overs and took 5 wickets for 196 runs. In India’s second innings in that Test match, he top-scored again with 184 runs out of India’s total of 378.

Though England won the game easily, Mankad’s all-round performance salvaged India’s pride in a series where they were heavily outmatched.

Mankad was the first player in more than 30 years to score a 100 and take five wickets in the same Test and the first Indian to achieve this feat. As such, he is one of only three non-England ‘away’ players whose names appear on both batting and bowling honours boards at Lords. (The other two are Keith Miller and Sir Gary Sobers).

Also memorable was his role earlier in the same year against England in Madras. He took 8/52 in England’s first innings and 4/53 in the second helping India beat England for the very first time in a Test match.

In 1956 he hit 231 against New Zealand at Chennai and together with Pankaj Roy established the world record opening partnership of 413 runs which stood for 52 years. His score was a Test record for India at the time and remained so until it was broken in 1983 by Sunil Gavaskar.

Mulvantrai Mankad, known throughout the world by his cricket nickname of Vinoo, left-arm slow bowler and right hand batsman, so distinguished himself on his first tour in England as a member of the 1946 India team that, both in performance and ability, he became recognised as the leading all-rounder of the season. Fittingly he crowned his great debut before the English public by completing the coveted “double” of 1000 runs and 100 wickets, a feat accomplished by only one other player R. Howorth of Worcestershire whose record was slightly inferior to that of Mankad.

Not since L. N. Constantine achieved the feat in 1928 had a member of a team visiting England accomplished this all-round performance until Mankad made cricket history as the first Indian ever to do so.

As chief agent in India’s attack, Mankad was called upon in first-class matches to bowl 1,160 overs, 380 in excess of any of his colleagues, and as many as three times as many as either Banerjee, Sohoni, Sarwate or Nayudu. In so doing he took 129 wickets, more than twice as many as the next most successful Indian bowlers, Hazare and Amarnath (56 each). As a batsman, accustomed at home to going in first, he was given no settled place but used rather as a utility man.

Mankad – proves himself

In spite of so much bowling responsibility and the irregular batting position, Mankad showed himself a very fine player.

Seven times he shared in century partnerships, on four occasions with Merchant, the other three with Hazare.

Mankad took part in the biggest stands of the tour for the first, fourth, sixth and eighth wickets, putting on 293 with Merchant against Sussex, 332 with Hazare against Yorkshire, 227 unfinished with Hazare against Middlesex and 110 with Merchant against Lancashire, at Old Trafford.

Moreover, Mankad opened with Merchant in the Lord’s Test and for a good time in the second innings looked capable of demoralising England’s bowling.

Mankad – took eight All-Ceylon wickets

After leaving Nawangar, Mankad played for the weaker Gujrat team and his opportunities for big cricket became more scarce until in 1945 he toured Ceylon with the representative Indian side. One performance by Mankad, when he took eight All-Ceylon wickets, did much to re-establish his reputation and in the same year he bowled so well against the Australian Services XI that A. L. Hassett, the Australian captain, freely tipped him as a certainty to do well on the English trip.

So necessary was Mankad to the Indian team in England that he missed only two matches, and those on account of an injury which slightly affected his bowling for the remainder of the season.

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[Record partnership partners ‘no more’]

Pankaj Roy (born 31st May 1928, died 4th February 2001) was an Indian cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman, he is best known for establishing the world record opening partnership of 413 runs, together with Vinoo Mankad, against New Zealand at Chennai. The record stood until 2001. He was honoured with the Padma Shri. His nephew Ambar Roy and son Pranab Roy also played Test cricket for India.

Roy played domestic cricket in India for Bengal cricket team. He scored a century on his first-class debut in 1946-47 and went on to score 33 hundreds, scoring a total of 11,868 first class runs at 42.38.

When England toured India in 1951, Roy was selected for the Indian squad and made his Test debut at Delhi. Despite making just 12 in his debut innings he scored 2 centuries in the series. The following summer he toured England and had a contrasting series, making 5 ducks in his 7 innings, including Frank Tyson’s debut first class wicket. This tally included a ‘pair’ at Old Trafford. He would hit five Test centuries for India, with a top score of 173.

He captained India in a Test match in England in 1959, which India lost.

Century on first class debut

An enigma of an opening batsman, he had periods of success interspersed with those of failure. He scored a century on his first-class debut in 1946-47, and twice reached three figures in his maiden Test series against England in 1951-52.

The following summer, however, he struggled in England and suffered five ‘ducks’ in his seven Test innings, including a pair at Old Trafford.. He recovered from this to score runs against the West Indies at home, and in New Zealand in 1954-55, soon after acquiring glasses, he partnered Vinoo Mankad in a world-record opening stand of 413.

Pankaj was a careful player, better known for his solid defence, though he could attack when the mood struck him.

He captained India in one Test, in England in 1959. Unfortunately, India lost that Test (and the series, 5-0). His son, Pranab, a chip off the old block, played two Tests.