This unknown Puducherry bowler becomes world's oldest T20 record holder

Puducherry paceman Santha Moorthy celebrates after picking up a wicket. (Photo: BCCI)

Puducherry paceman Santha Moorthy became the oldest fast bowler at the age of 41 years and 129 days to pick up a five-wicket haul in T20 game. Moorthy achieved the feat with his haul of 5/20 against Mumbai in a Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy game on Sunday. 

The previous record was of one Kenute Tulloch, who took five wickets against St Lucia in 2006, at the age of 41 years and seven days. Batting first, Mumbai were all out for 94. Shivam Dube scored 28 and Akash Parkar remained unbeaten on 20. As the domestic powerhouse of Indian cricket crashed to their fourth defeat, Puducherry rejoiced, celebrating Moorthy's record. His five-wicket haul included the wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aditya Tare, Suryakumar Yadav, Siddesh Lad and Sujit Nayak.

WATCH: Santha Moorthy's brilliant 5/20 

The Pondicherry right-arm pacer ran through the Mumbai batting line-up in his impressive four-over spell at the Wankhede Stadium.  #MUMvCAP #SyedMushtaqAliT20

Video of his 5-wicket haul https://t.co/rd0WfGzMAp pic.twitter.com/6goTMjbDrz — BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 17, 2021

Over the years, Moorthy has played for Madras Cricket Club and a few local outfits - including Swaraj CC - before featuring for Puducherry. On his debut last year, Moorthy picked up a five-for in the second innings against Nagaland and guided his team to an innings and 195-run win. 

And soon after the Ranji Trophy got over, the country went into a lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It was a dream come true for me to take five wickets against Mumbai, and that too, at the Wankhede Stadium. Not many cricketer gets a chance to play at this iconic venue and this has to be one of the major highlights of my career,” Moorthy was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Moorthy has also been part of the Karaikudi Kaalai squad in the Tamil Nadu Premier League and those experiences have actually helped him get used to the format. He works as a multi-tasking staff (MTS) at the Government Law College in Puducherry and also runs a small sports shop. 

“I have been playing cricket since the age of 17-18 and I still have that energy and enthusiasm. So, age is not really a factor for me in any format of the game,” Moorthy added