Parthiv Patel is an international cricketer, who was born on March 9, 1985 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
Parthiv Patel started playing professional cricket in 1998, when he was selected to play for the Gujarat Under-14 (U-14). He came to prominence in the cricketing world when he scored centuries in both the innings of a match. He scored 101 of 196 in the first innings and 201 not out of 297 balls in the second and saved the match after being forced to follow-on. Soon after that Parthiv Patel was made the captain of the West Zone U-19 team, when he was just 15 years old and he led the team in a match against England U-19. He led the Indian U-17 side to win the 2001 Asia Cup and earned a six-week scholarship to get trained from the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide. Parthiv Patel was named the captain of the Indian U-19 team for the 2002 World Cup in New Zealand and soon got selected in India A to tour South Africa.
This left-handed wicket-keeper batsman made his Test debut for India on August 8, 2002 against England at Nottingham following Ratra’s absence due to injury. Parthiv Patel became the youngest wicket-keeper to play a Test match at the age of 17 years and 152 days, surpassing the Pakistani Hanif Mohammad’s record of 17 years and 300 days, which he set in 1952. Though he did not bat well in first innings, Parthiv Patel stood on the grease for over an hour in the second innings to deny victory to the English side. Parthiv Patel was included in the Indian squad that toured Australia during the 2003-04 season, and he scored 160 runs at an average of 32, which includes his maiden Test fifty with 62 that he scored in the New Year’s Test.
In the second Test of the away series against Pakistan, Parthiv Patel scored an unbeaten 62 and was elevated up the order to open the innings in the final Test as the opener Akash Chopra had to be sidelined to include the captain, Sourav Ganguly, who was returning from an injury. In that match, Parthiv Patel scored his best score of 69 not out and he continued his good form against Australia in the 2004 home series, scoring 46 and 54.
Parthiv Patel played his first ODI (One Day International) match against New Zealand on January 4, 2003 at Queenstown. He was selected in the Indian squad for the 2003 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup, but did not make it into the playing eleven in the tournament, as Rahul Dravid has been used a make-shift wicket-keeper to give room for an extra batsman or bowler. In the two years since his debut, Parthiv Patel has played in 13 ODIs, scoring at an average of 14.66, with a top score of 28.
He made his Twenty20 (T20) debut for the Chilaw Marians Cricket Club against the PCA Masters XI on September 15, 2005 at Leicester. Parthiv Patel was signed by Chennai Super Kings, an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, for $325,000. He made his IPL debut on April 19, 2008 against Kings XI Punjab, a match which his team won by 33 runs. In the 13 matches that he played in the inaugural IPL season, Parthiv Patel scored 302 runs at a strike rate of 101.68, with his best score being 54.
