Chamanlal made his first-class debut in 1952-53 for Eastern Punjab and played a few more games in subsequent seasons.
He also opened the batting for Punjab University in the Rohinton Baria Trophy from 1953–54 to 1955–56.
[2] In 1957-58 he captained Eastern Punjab, scoring 182 runs at an average of 30.33 and taking 5 wickets at 41.80 in a team that lost all three matches.
[3] He then spent time in England furthering his engineering studies and experience.
[5] In 1963-64 he was one of the leading batsmen in the Ranji Trophy, with 414 runs at 69.00, including another century (138) against Jammu and Kashmir.