Niraj Patel is a professional cricketer who was born on March 26, 1981 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. He is a left-handed middle-order batsman, who was included in Under-19 (U-19) squad for the World Cup in 1999. He was also named in the India A squad that played against the Pakistan team during its 2005 tour.
Niraj Patel played for the Gujarat Under-16 (U-16) and U-19 teams between 1995 and 1997 and progressed to the senior side. He made an impressive debut for it in the 1997-98 Ranji Trophy season, making 62 runs, which earned him a place in the Indian U-19 team. In the 2004-05 season, Niraj Patel topped the runs table in the league phases of the Ranji Trophy as well as the Ranji One Day Internationals (ODIs), where he finished with an average of 103 runs in four games. In January 2007, in the Ranji Trophy Elite Division Group-B match against Maharashtra, Niraj Patel scored 112 runs, which included 18 boundaries. The 2007-08 season was a productive one as he scored over 600 runs for Gujarat in Ranji Trophy that season. Niraj Patel also took part in the match against Railways played on January 2008 at Mumbai. As of 2008, he has played 61 First-class matches and has an average of over 40 runs.
Niraj Patel made his Twenty20 (T20) debut for Gujarat on April 3, 2007 against Maharashtra and since then, has played 8 domestic matches and scored 300 runs, with 93 runs as his personal best score.
In 2008, Niraj Patel played for Rajasthan Royals under the captaincy of ace Australian spinner Shane Warne at the Indian Premier League (IPL). He made a nerveless 40 runs in just 29 balls, a match-winning effort for his team against Mumbai Indians. He also scored 57 runs in 55 balls against Kings XI Punjab in the IPL. On June 1, 2008, he played in the finals, where his team defeated Chennai Super Kings to win the inaugural T20 IPL Cup.
