He is no more the baby-faced wicketkeeper who made his Test debut on a chilly Nottingham morning in August 2002. Parthiv Patel is pushing 32 and is again living his cricket dreams – to play for Team India.
Wriddhiman Saha’s injury has given Parthiv Patel another chance to play a Test match for India. The Gujarat wicket-keeper batsman will be playing his 21st Test in Mohali after an eight-year gap. Parthiv Patel says “self belief” has paid off.
In an interview to ESPNCricinfo, Parthiv Patel said: “I had self-belief, which has defined my career and brought me to where I have reached. I believe a lot in hard work, and at different points of time it has paid off, so there was no way I was going to quit.”
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“This is another example of that: if you work hard, at some point of time, out of nowhere, something comes up,” Patel added.
{{/usCountry}}“This is another example of that: if you work hard, at some point of time, out of nowhere, something comes up,” Patel added.
{{/usCountry}}The pocket-sized Patel, thanks to the popularity of the Indian Premier League, emerged as a pugnacious batsman who could give the scoreboard some real momentum. But it is Ranji Trophy performance and glovework that paved the way for his return ahead of a Dinesh Karthik or Rishabh Pant.
“It’s interesting that when you are playing domestic no one talks about keeping. Once you reach international [level] everyone starts talking about it,” he says.
“When you are not playing for India, the focus is not there; people don’t know how much hard work you are putting in. Only you know how much hard work you have put in and only people around you back home know what you are doing.”
Patel has an average of close to 60 this year in Ranji Trophy with a century and three fifties in his last eight first-class innings.
“The hunger for hundreds is something that has helped me get noticed more. Knowing my game was important and knowing which bowler to attack, and which not to, are things that come with experience and I used it to my betterment,” Patel said.
His batting skills will be tested in Mohali where the ball is expected to move around a bit. Patel has been batting at No. 4 for Gujarat and he is likely to bolster the Indian lower middle order that will need his run-scoring ability in case the top order fails.