Mudhsuden Singh Panesar (born 25 April 1982), known as Monty Panesar, is an English international cricketer who is currently unattached to any County. 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 2010–2013 and Essex from 2013-2015, He has also played for the Lions in South Africa.

Monty Panesar

Personal information
Full name	Mudhsuden Singh Panesar
Born	(1982-04-25) 25 April 1982 (age 36) Luton, Bedfordshire, England
Nickname	Monty, Montster, The Sultan, The Sikh of Tweak, The Python
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Slow left arm orthodox
Role	Spin bowler
International information
National side	England (2006-present)
Test debut (cap 631)	1 March 2006 v India
Last Test	26 December 2013 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 200)	12 January 2007 v Australia
Last ODI	13 October 2007 v Sri Lanka
ODI shirt no.	77
Only T20I (cap 23)	9 January 2007 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2001–2009	Northamptonshire (squad no. 7)
2009	Highveld Lions
2010–2013	Sussex (squad no. 7)
2013	Essex (on loan)
2014–2015	Essex (squad no. 77)
2016	Northamptonshire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 50 26 219 85 Runs scored 220 26 1,536 141 Batting average 4.88 5.20 8.39 8.81 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 Top score 26 13 46* 17* Balls bowled 12,475 1,308 48,193 3,725 Wickets 167 24 709 83 Bowling average 34.71 40.83 31.22 34.84 5 wickets in innings 12 0 39 1 10 wickets in match 2 n/a 6 0 Best bowling 6/37 3/25 7/60 5/20 Catches/stumpings 10/– 3/– 44/– 15/–
Source: CricInfo, 15 December 2016

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.