Paul Valthaty

Early years and personal life

Valthaty was born and raised in the Borivali district of Mumbai.

Valthaty was trained in Dilip Vengsarkar academy in Mumbai. He was then recommended by Vengsarkar to Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) president Mr. Chamundeswarnath.

Career

Early domestic career

Valthaty had a nondescript career till then, since making his way up the levels of age group cricket in Mumbai during the late 1990s.^[3] He made India’s Under-19 squad to the 2002 World Cup in New Zealand^[4] with the likes of Irfan Pathan and Parthiv Patel where an injury to his eye in the game against Bangladesh halted his development. He couldn’t make the breakthrough into senior cricket for years, and got just one opportunity for Mumbai, a one-dayer in 2006. There was no high-profile cricket for him for another few years, till Rajasthan Royals punted on him in the 2009 season, where he played a couple of matches. That earned him a place in Mumbai’s Twenty20 side, and he turned in a few powerful performances for them, which led to a contract with Kings XI Punjab in 2011.

Indian Premier League

Paul Valthaty was picked by Kings XI Punjab as a backup to expensive international buys at a player auction in January.^[5] He was the opening batsmen for Kings XI Punjab, had an outstanding game in the 2011 Indian Premier League against the reigning champions Chennai Super Kings. Valthaty raced to 120 not out in 63 balls as the Kings XI Punjab chased down the mammoth 189-run target with six wickets and five balls to spare at Mohali. It was the first hundred of IPL 2011 and 13th overall and this century is his first fastest century.^[6] It remains the 8th highest IPL score ever, after, Chris Gayle‘s 175* & 128, Brendon McCullum‘s 158*, AB de Villiers’s 133* and 129*, Murali Vijay‘s 127 and Virender Sehwag’s 122. In his next game Paul scored a fabulous 75 of 47 deliveries hitting 5 sixes and 8 fours after achieving the best bowling figures for any Kings XI Punjab bowler with 4 for 29. His all round performance resulted in a big win for his team.^[7] He played a pacey innings in his next match scoring 46 off just 31^[8] deliveries with three classic sixes. With his initial blitzkrieg, the team crossed the fifty in just three overs, a record in IPL history which was later beaten by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their second match against the Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the same season.