A career spanning 18 years, with only 25 tests and 38 ODIs, could be seen as a career of unfulfilled ambitions. But Parthiv Patel’s cricket journey is not just about how much he played, but also how he played and what he participated in along the way.
Patel rejected any idea of regret when he retired from all forms of cricket at age 35.
“My family was crying, but I was doing pretty well,” he said. “I am very happy with where I am, at the end of my career. I don’t feel like I could have achieved this or that. “
After his first season as an Indian player ended between 2002-04, Patel, like all other goalie hitters from that time, remained under the gigantic shadow of MS Dhoni. His debut in the Test became a topic of conversation as the cricket world watched in awe as a maturing 17-year-old boy with a cherubic aspect was batting the final session in Nottingham to help India save the Test.
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“When I left the field, the two teams gave me an honor guard, which was never intended. I still have that photo in my house, ”Patel said.
He would lose his place in India due to technical problems with his window maintenance, but the selectors continued to dial his number when Dhoni was unavailable. He got a test retreat in 2008 for a tour of Sri Lanka, where DRS was first performed. He also had a productive white-ball series, playing as a starter for England in 2011, when he scored the best 95 of his career.
But the most unexpected comeback came at home against England in 2016, when after a gap of 83 missed tests, he was called up to replace the injured Wriddhiman Saha. Patel was made to start and drove 195 runs in 4 innings, including a career-best 71. He had previously opened in the 2004 Rawalpindi Test against Shoaib Akhtar and company. too.
“I was able to show that he was someone who was always willing to raise his hand when the team needed him. This is how I always wanted to be known, ”he said.
Patel has been part of some historical dressing rooms; was there when Sourav Ganguly waved his jersey from the Lords’ balcony after winning the Natwest trophy, in Johannesburg when India’s World Cup hopes were dashed in the final, in Test victories at Headingley 2002, Adelaide 2003, Johannesburg 2018, and saw three IPL-wins (CSK 2010, MI 2015 and 17). He remains the only one from the Ganguly era who also played for India with Virat Kohli.
Patel’s perseverance paid off when he led Gujarat to his first Ranji trophy title in 2016-17, which counts among the two best moments of his career, as well as playing test cricket for India. “The India cap Sourav gave me was misspelled. It said ‘Partiv’, ”he joked.
As he gained experience, talent scouts and selectors came to him for feedback; John Wright of the Mumbai Indians relied on Patel’s advice before adding Jasprit Bumrah to the fold.
“I wouldn’t want to take any credit for it, but I’m quite proud that someone on my state team that I was managing became the number one bowler,” he said.
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