Monty Panesar

Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, known as Monty Panesar (born 25 April 1982 in Luton, Bedfordshire), is an English international cricketer who currently plays for Sussex. A left-arm spinner, Panesar made his Test debut in 2006 and one-day debut for England in 2007. In English county cricket he played for Northamptonshire until 2009. He has also played for Lions in South Africa.

Born in Luton to Indian Punjabi Sikh parents, he is the first Sikh to represent a nation other than India in Test cricket. He wears a black patka (a smaller version of the full Sikh turban) while playing and training. He is a crowd favourite in England, and many fans have worn patkas and fake beards while watching him play.

During his early international career Panesar often received loud cheers whenever he came on to bat, bowl or field, the latter due to his history of less than skilful fielding. When first selected for England he was widely perceived as being a particularly inept batsman and fielder, which may have contributed to this reception; the TMS commentator Henry Blofeld once accidentally referred to him as Monty Python, a mistake possibly encouraged by his comic reputation. After early success in Test cricket, his results declined, leading to him losing his place in 2009, but his excellent county form saw him named a member of England's Ashes winning squad which toured Australia in 2010/11. After taking 69 wickets in the 2011 county season Panesar earned a recall for the series against Pakistan in the U.A.E.; he played in the second Test - his first Test appearance in over two and a half years.