An attractive right-hand middle-order batsman cast in the GR Viswanath mould, the stockily built Ashok Malhotra never really did justice to his talent in Test cricket and his overall figures are disappointing. Picked to play for the country on the basis of some excellent performances in domestic matches, Malhotra did nothing of note in his first few Tests and was discarded. He toured West Indies in 1983 without making the Test team. Back in the squad against West Indies at home in 1983-84, Malhotra fared better with scores of 32, 72*, 20 and 30 (top score in a total of 90). He was then dropped again before returning to play in one Test against England in 1984-85. He was a member of the Indian team that won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985.

In domestic cricket however Malhotra was a prolific run getter and for a long time he held the record of most runs in the Ranji Trophy - 7274 at 52.49 with 18 hundreds. His highest score was 258 not out for Bengal against Hyderabad in 1989-90. Later he became a Test selector, and went on to coach Bengal.
Partab Ramchand