Former Indian cricketer Rajinder Pal passed away on Wednesday at his Dehradun residence. The right-arm pacer played only one Test for his nation. He was 80 years old at his demise.
His younger brother Ravinder Pal, who was also a domestic cricketer, confirmed his elder brother’s demise by quoting, “My elder brother Rajinder Pal passed away yesterday at his Dehradun residence. He was 80 years old and is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.”
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Rajinder Pal had played 98 first-class matches where he had taken total 337 wickets with the bowling average of 21.89. His best bowling figure was 8/27 and had claimed 23 times five-wicket haul and two times 10-wicket haul. He had begun the domestic professional cricketing career in 1954/55 and had stretched till 1873/74. In the domestic cricket, he had played for Delhi, Southern Punjab, Punjab and Haryana.
The right-arm pacer had played only one Test for India and that was during England’s tour of India in January 1964. Playing the second Test of that 5-match Test series at Mumbai, Rajinder was the opening bowler for the team and had the bowling figures of 11-4-19-0 and 2-0-3-0.
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According to Sportstar, former Indian first-class off-spinner Sarkar Talwar recalled, “Palli Sir was such a wonderful bowler. He was nippy and commanded respect from the best of the batsmen. He did not fear any opponent and was at his best when handling juniors. He gave us love and guidance, cared for and never allowed us to spend our allowances. He would pick all the bills. I was privileged to have achieved my best under his captaincy.”
Talwar further added, “I can never thank Palli Sir’s contribution in words. Two of my gurus (Pal and Desh Prem Azad) have gone out of my life. Palli Sir taught me in-swing in three weeks. I can never forget him. I was told by old timers that he was one of the finest new-ball bowlers but unfortunately he did not get the kind of exposure he deserved.”
