Paul Valthaty – A forgotten name

Paul Valthaty – A forgotten name: A score of an unbeaten 120* runs in 63 deliveries, chasing a target of 189 runs in 20 overs, set by the then defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, in IPL 2011, brought Paul Valthaty into the limelight.

Playing for the then Adam Gilchrist led Kings’ XI Punjab, Valthaty, who opened the innings along with his skipper, Gilchrist, in the game that was played on 13th April, 2011, at PCA, Mohali, went on to register his fastest century (120* runs with the help of 19 fours and 2 sixes, facing 63 deliveries).

This swashbuckling innings of Valthaty helped his team to score 193 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 19.1 overs and win the game by six wickets with five deliveries to spare. CSK bowlers, Albie Morkel, Scott Styris, Shadab Jakati and Suresh Raina were the worst sufferers as Valthaty scored big. These bowlers averaged more than 12 runs an over. Paul Valthaty was adjudged the Player of the Match.

At the post-match presentation, KXIP skipper, Gilchrist said, “Paul hit some nice shots in the first match but unfortunately got out. He showed some talent in the warm-up games. That was an amazing innings, yeah! We were indisciplined with the ball in the end, but Chennai played really well from 0 for 2. I loved standing around and watching Paul go today! I hope to see Sanath Jayasuriya dancing, he said he will dance if we win today.”

In the next game played against the then Deccan Chargers played on 16th April 2011, at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad, chasing a target of 166, Valthaty scored a 47-ball 75 runs with the help of 8 fours and 5 sixes thereby helping his team achieve the target and win the game in 17.4 overs, losing just 2 wickets.

Earlier, rolling over his arms in the Deccan Chargers innings, he returned with an excellent analysis of 4-0-29-4, accounting for Shikhar Dhawan, Bharat Chipli, Daniel Christian and Amit Mishra. Valthaty earned the second Player of the Match award for his overall performance with the bat and the ball.

Based on his performances in Vijay Merchant Trophy (U16) and Cooch Behar Trophy (U19), Paul made it to the Indian squad for the U19 World Cup, 2002, played in New Zealand. He was in the team along with the likes of Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel and was the only Mumbai cricketer in the squad.

An eye injury in the game against Bangladesh in the tournament kept him out of cricket for a considerable period of time. His stellar performance in Mumbai T20 team helped him being picked up by Kings’ XI Punjab in 2011, prior to which he was with Rajasthan Royals with limited or no success.

Surprisingly after his outstanding performance in IPL 2011, he could not do much in the next two seasons. In 2012 season, Valthaty featured in only 6 games and scored 30 runs and in the 2013 season, he played in just 1 game and scored 6 runs. He did not pick up any wickets.

A player who had shown a great promise suddenly disappeared with sub-standard performances and has now become a name that is completely forgotten.

At 32, and not being considered for the Ranji Trophy/Vijay Hazare Trophy probable, there is very little hope that Paul would get to play at any significant level.