Shah Nyalchand

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
Died	4 January 1997(1997-01-04) (aged 77) Junagadh, Gujarat, India
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Left-arm medium
International information
National side	India
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.