Monty Panesar

Mudhsuden Singh "Monty" Panesar (born 25 April 1982) is a former English international cricketer. A left-arm spinner, Panesar made his Test cricket debut in 2006 against India in Nagpur and One Day International debut for England in 2007. In English county cricket, he last played for Northamptonshire in 2016, and has previously played for Northamptonshire until 2009, Sussex from 2010 to 2013 and Essex from 2013 to 2015. He has also played for the Lions in South Africa.

Born in Luton to Indian parents, Panesar is a Sikh, and so he wears a black patka (a smaller version of the full Sikh turban) while playing and training. Many of his fans have emulated him by wearing patkas and fake beards while watching him play.

When first selected for England he was widely perceived as being a particularly inept batsman and fielder, which resulted in much ironic cheering; the TMS commentator Henry Blofeld once accidentally referred to him as Monty Python. Panesar lost his place in the England Test team, being replaced by Graeme Swann and losing his central contract. However, his form improved with Sussex County Cricket Club, and so he was recalled to the squad for the 2010–11 Ashes series, although he did not feature in any matches. After taking 69 wickets in the 2011 county season Panesar earned a recall for the series against Pakistan in the UAE; he played in the second Test – his first Test appearance in over two and a half years. Panesar also played in 3 Test matches in India in 2012, before deputising for the injured Graeme Swann as lead spinner in the England tour of New Zealand, where he managed just 5 wickets costing 70 runs each.

His last international series was against Australia in the 2013–14 Ashes though he has not announced retirement since. In January 2017, Panesar was recruited by Cricket Australia as a spin-bowling consultant for the tour of India, after spending his winter as a club cricketer in Sydney.

Panesar's father, Paramjit Singh, is an architect and real estate developer, who, along with Panesar's mother Gursharan Kaur, migrated from Punjab, India to Luton in England in 1979, where they continue to live, and where Monty Panesar was born. Panesar has a younger brother, Isher Singh, and sister, Charanjit Kaur Panesar. Panesar is a supporter of Luton Town. Panesar was educated at St. Matthew's Infant and Junior Schools and Stopsley High School, Luton. For Sixth Form, he studied at Bedford Modern School. He also has a degree in computer science from Loughborough University.

Panesar is primarily a left-arm finger spin bowler. Early in his career, former England head coach Duncan Fletcher described him as "the best finger spinner in the world".

Over the years, Panesar has acquired many nicknames. He is most commonly known simply as Monty, however other nicknames have included "The Python" (a reference to Monty Python), "The Sikh of Tweak" (probably a humorous reference to Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne's sobriquet, "The Sheikh of Tweak)", "Parmesan Tony" (an anagram), "The Beard to be Feared".

Panesar has certain physical attributes that help with his spin bowling: he has unusually large hands, measuring 14 inches (36 cm), and can also rotate his hand at his wrist through 360 degrees.