He made his international debut at the age of 17 years and 152 days in 2002. Patel made a comeback in 2008 against Sri Lanka but was dropped again. Then, during the 2009-10 season, Parthiv said he was in peak form in domestic cricket, but when he asked a national selector in 2010 about his prospects, he got a shocking reply.
Because of the abundance of options available to the BCCI selectors, there are several instances of talented players failing to earn a place in the national side. In a country like India, where cricket academies and teams abound in every corner, getting a chance in the national team requires more than just hard work. Parthiv Patel is one such player. However, his international career saw him being dropped on several occasions for long periods. The emergence of MS Dhoni saw him lose his place in the team.
Patel said he first had a discussion with then-chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar. The India great told him to keep working hard. Then, after a new selection panel came in, he spoke to another selector.
That was when I scored 500 runs across five consecutive innings in First-Class cricket. Till date, no batter in First-Class cricket in India, whether it’s Sachin Tendulkar , Virat Kohli , or Sunil Gavaskar , has scored 500 runs in five consecutive innings,” Parthiv told Aakash Chopra on the latter’s YouTube channel. But by 2011, after consistently scoring 700-800 runs every season, the selection committee had changed. “He said: ‘You are 27-28 years old, you are a Gujarati. It couldn’t be that I played Ranji Trophy cricket at 50-60% intensity and then suddenly got to play a Test match without knowing the pace of the game.
Because i knew my performance wasn’t good enough when I got dropped, “At that time, I didn’t feel aggrieved. Because he was on a different level, “I was never in competition with MS Dhoni. Because of his performances, his stature as a player, and his captaincy, you weren’t even talking about the first keeper’s spot. The only question was when he would take a rest so that I’d get to play, or when I’d get the opportunity to go on a tour.
The team had lost a series in India after a long time.
He told me, ‘It’s unfortunate, keep working hard. I told him directly, ‘If you don’t want to select me, don’t. But in the subsequent years, there came a phase when I felt, ‘What more can I do than this? It’s actually an Indian record. “When the selection for the Australia tour was happening, I called selector Dilip Vengsarkar and asked him about my chances. I called the new selector from the West Zone to ask about my prospects, and I received a shocking piece of advice. Think about whether you can do some business or not. But you cannot discourage someone like this. Fine, this is your thinking, but you have two years left in your tenure. I challenge you that within those two years, I will make a comeback,'” Parthiv added. The competition was only for the second keeper’s slot. But at some point, I realised that we are playing cricket whether it’s for India, Gujarat, West Zone, or club cricket. My intensity shouldn’t drop, regardless of the level I’m playing at. My preparation always had to be as if I was playing for India. Whenever I got the chance, I had to be ready,” Parthiv stated.
