Shah Nyalchand pronunciation (14 September 1915 – 3 January 1997) was an Indian Test cricketer.

Shah Nyalchand
Personal information
Born(1919-09-14)14 September 1919
Dhrangadhra, British India
Died4 January 1997(1997-01-04) (aged 77)
Junagadh, Gujarat, India
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingLeft-arm medium
International information
National side
Only Test (cap 63)23 October 1952 v Pakistan
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 1 57
Runs scored 7 420
Batting average 7.00 7/63
100s/50s 0/0 0/0
Top score 6* 33
Balls bowled 387 14,419
Wickets 3 235
Bowling average 32.33 22.57
5 wickets in innings 0 15
10 wickets in match 0 6
Best bowling 3/97 7/32
Catches/stumpings 0/– 18/–
Source: CricketArchive, 9 September 2022

Nyalchand was a left arm medium pace bowler who was particularly effective on matting wickets.[1] His only Test match was against Pakistan at Lucknow in 1952/53, which was one of only two occasions that a matting wicket was used for a Test in India. He returned figures of 3 for 97. Frank Worrell once described Nyalchand as the 'king of matting wickets'.[1]

Nyalchand played 24 seasons of Ranji Trophy, half of which were for Saurashtra. He captained Saurashtra for three seasons. His most successful season was 1961/62 when he took 27 wickets, including a split hat-trick against Maharashtra. During this purple patch, he took ten wickets in three consecutive matches across two seasons. Apart from the Test, he appeared for a few times for zonal sides against visiting teams. He toured East Africa with the Sundar Cricket Club of Bombay in 1957.[1]

Nyalchand was schooled in Sir Ajitsinhji High School in Dhrangadhra. He worked as a draughtsman with the Public Works Department of Gujarat government at Rajkot.[1] He did cricket coaching for a time and was the recipient of an aid from the benefit fund of BCCI. His death was from a massive heart attack.

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d Mukherjee, Abhishek. "Shah Nyalchand: India's matting-wicket specialist". Cricket Country. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
edit