India look like they are well on their way to a place in the finals of World Cup 2003, but there’s one man (if you can call him that) in the eleven who couldn’t be blamed for being worried about something else he has to do around the same time.
Parthiv Patel, the cherubic Indian wicketkeeper who turns 18 on March 9, is also a Class XII commerce student due to appear for his board exams on March 25. The World Cup final is on March 23 — and that’s cutting a bit too fine for him to make it back in time. If he’s bothered about it, he doesn’t show it.
At an informal meeting with mediapersons on Wednesday, he said he didn’t really have time to study for his exam during the tour: the demands of the professional sportsman are far too great to allow that kind of luxury. But in case he does make it back — however jetlagged or exhausted — Parthiv seems confident about the exam. “I’m a good student. I scored 70 per cent in my Class X boards,” he said.
Parthiv comes from a middle-class Ahmedabad family (his father is in the construction business) and it goes without saying that basic education is high on the list of his priorities. But he says he hasn’t asked the examination administrators to treat his case as special. “I really don’t know what will happen,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Parthiv comes from a middle-class Ahmedabad family (his father is in the construction business) and it goes without saying that basic education is high on the list of his priorities. But he says he hasn’t asked the examination administrators to treat his case as special. “I really don’t know what will happen,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}So while his buddies at school sneak in a bit of television (this is the World Cup after all) in between slogging for their exams, Parthiv finds himself on television. Okay, not very often during this Cup.
But it is really not his fault that the Indian strategy in South Africa is to go in with seven batsmen after factoring in the opportunity cost of not playing a specialist keeper.
But ever so often, there’s the sight of a smiling Parthiv carrying instructions and drinks to the players; watching the game intently from just outside the boundary; learning. It is not true that Parthiv isn't studying on this tour. It’s just that he’s studying the subject he’s best at: cricket.