Mantu Banerjee

Picked to play his first Test in his hometown of Calcutta in his 30th year, `Montu' Banerjee, a brisk right arm medium pacer relished the familiar conditions and took four for 120 and one for 61, bowling 51 overs in all. In his first spell he dismissed Allan Rae for 15 and D.Atkinson for zero. In a later spell he got the wickets of Christiani and Cameron. In the second innings also he struck early removing Carew. He also held a couple of catches to complete an impressive debut and it was rather surprising that he never got another chance at the international level. In a first class career that lasted from 1941 to 1954, Banerjee took 92 wickets (23.28).(Partab Ramchand)