Perhaps the first outstanding Indian wicketkeeper, `Khokhan' Sen went to Australia as understudy to JK Irani but fine performances on the tour saw him make his Test debut midway through the series. From then on he remained the first choice Indian wicketkeeper for five years. Despite his stocky build, Sen was extremely agile and brought off a number of smart catches or lightning fast stumpings which did a lot to boost the morale of the bowlers. He first made his presence felt when he brought off four catches and let through only four byes when Australia scored 575 for eight declared at Melbourne in 1948. He played in all the five Tests against West Indies in 1948-49. In the early fifties he warded off competition from `Nana' Joshi and Madhav Mantri and had his finest moment in the final Test against England at Madras in 1951-52. Sen played a notable part in the historic victory, bringing of five stumpings, all off Vinoo Mankad, four of them in the first innings. He toured England in 1952, sharing the Test duties with Mantri and kept wickets in two more Tests against Pakistan in 1952-53 before losing his place, though he played in one unofficial `Test' against the SJOC team in 1953-54.

A useful late order batsman, Sen also occasionally loved to turn his arm over. In 1954-55 in a Ranji Trophy game against Orissa he handed over his gloves to a teammate, took the ball and promptly performed a hat-trick. In a 15-year first class career, Sen scored 2580 runs (23.24) with three centuries. He also effected 143 dismissals, 107 of them caught. In the Ranji Trophy, he scored 1796 runs (30.44). A character whose exuberence was infectious, Sen died suddenly after a heart attack, following a day's cricket at Calcutta. (Partab Ramchand)

Feb 12, 2005 Probir Sen portrait © Cricinfo Ltd

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